Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Arizona Man’s Illegal Forest Campsite Was Surrounded by 1,000 Pounds of Trash, Officials Say

Authorities say Mark Aaron Gatz spent years living illegally in Tonto National Forest, where officers found a campsite covered in debris.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

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........

© Vice