If you’re going to live off the grid to remove yourself from society, the least you can do is clean up the enormous mountain of trash that makes you easy to spot.
According to federal court records and reporting from NBC News, a 65-year-old Arizona man pleaded guilty after authorities found him living illegally in Tonto National Forest, where he had reportedly spent years building an unauthorized encampment surrounded by roughly 1,000 pounds of trash.
Mark Aaron Gatz told U.S. Forest Service officers he had lived in the forest for about eight years, including roughly two years at the campsite where he was arrested. That wouldn’t have been legal even if he’d kept things neat and tidy. Federal rules are pretty strict about limiting camping in national forests to within 14 days of a 30-day period to protect public lands and make sure everyone has a chance to experience their beauty.
Living on those lands was only part of Gatz’s problem. The bigger problem was the very literal mountain of trash he accumulated.
Arizona Man Built an Illegal Forest Camp Surrounded by Tires, Oil, Drums, and Trash
Officers described his campsite as littered with all sorts of junk, including tires, plastic bags, aluminum cans, motor oil, bicycle frames, plywood, 55-gallon drums, clothes, pots and pans, and assorted debris spread across roughly half an acre of forest.
ABC News quotes Gatz as having allegedly been regularly building campfires in a state that had imposed strict fire restrictions to prevent catastrophic wildfires. Gatz 6 said he was aware of the fire restrictions but continued to make fires anyway to cook meals.
None of this is exactly new, other than the impressively huge mountain of trash Gatz had collected over the years. He had previously received multiple citations and warnings for illegal fires, unauthorized structures, unsanitary conditions, and living on Forest Service land. By the time of his arrest, he reportedly had six outstanding federal warrants tied to earlier violations.
Gatz pleaded guilty to violating fire restrictions and unlawfully residing in the national forest. He was sentenced to time served and probation.
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