Homeless camps in national forests increase amid pandemic

By JENNIFER BROWN
The Colorado Sun

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (AP) — Illegal camping in Colorado’s national forests has increased during the pandemic as more people are out of work and without homes. The Colorado Sun reports the U.S. Forest Service also has seen an uptick in the number of abandoned campsites. Transient campers move on with only what they can carry in a backpack, leaving behind garbage and clothes, food rotting in coolers, tents and even fifth-wheel trailers and pop-up campers. Earl Huie, a Forest Service law enforcement officer, estimates about 80% of the illegal campers he encounters are just down on their luck.