Escaping the rigors of urban life and experiencing the great outdoors has long been the ideal reason for a trip to the nation's public lands. However ongoing studies and research conducted by the U S Forestry Service, and Oregon State University (OSU), are documenting the rise of crime in our national forests.

This issue of increasing crime is not limited to the occasional theft of a picnic basket, but rather include murder, violent crime, drug production, hate crimes and even gang activity.

According to theses reports, about 35% of law enforcement officers in the Forest Service have been assaulted, experts say. There is a perception among enforcement officials that crimes such as property theft, indiscriminate shootings, criminal damage and production of methamphetamine is significantly increased in many areas. And the number of crimes and related incidents on national forests and grasslands doubled in one recent 5 year period, while the number of law enforcement officers was the same or lower.

Those findings are from a study concluded earlier this year by researchers from Oregon State University and the Pacific Southwest Research Station of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. The study will be released first to the Forest Service, which provided the funding. And another paper to be published in the Journal of Forestry, called Crime in National Forests: A Call for Research, summarizes previous findings and suggests that more research on crime in national forests is necessary and long overdue.

"We don't want people to be terrified of going camping or enjoying the outdoors or to take inappropriate steps, such as carrying weapons," said Joanne Tynon, an assistant professor at OSU and expert on crime on Forest Service lands. "But they need to realize that the concerns we used to associate with an urban setting are now much more common in the outdoors, and people should act accordingly."

"People are not used to dealing with things like murder, rape, assault and drug labs in the woods. The forests are no longer places where you can get away from it all."

Researchers at OSU and the Forest Service are trying to use sophisticated geographic information systems to identify "hot spots" of crime and the types of criminals that may be associated with it, in collaboration with Michael Wing, an OSU assistant professor of forest engineering.

An analysis of national forests in Oregon and Washington, for instance, identified some particular trouble areas east and west of Seattle; along the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area; in parts of northeastern Oregon; and in portions of the Oregon coast, especially in the Siuslaw National Forest, which logged 49 felonies. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area south of Florence, Ore., had 2,114 reported crimes in 2003 and 2004. Most were misdemeanors, but the list included nine felonies. A variety of causes led to these increasing concerns. Urban populations are growing, more of the crime issues that used to be associated with large cities are spreading, and law enforcement agencies in the national forests and other natural areas are now facing unanticipated challenges.

"There are fewer rangers in the woods now than there used to be, while population growth and use of public lands has soared," Tynon said. "And we have people who signed on expecting to deal primarily with natural resources law enforcement, like catching timber thieves, who are dealing with domestic violence, sexual assaults, drug cultivation, body dumping and gang murders." On some western forests, individual law enforcement officers patrol an average of 378,000 acres. "Law enforcement officers are doing the best they can in a very difficult situation, while being subjected to verbal threats, abuse and physical attacks," Tynon said. "Backup might be an hour away, assuming they can even get radios or cell phones to work in some of these remote locations."

The general public, Tynon said, appears to be only marginally aware of the increasing severity and frequency of crime in outdoor settings.

"Right now, I don't think there's all that much effect on tourism and recreation behavior because not that many people know what is going on," she said. "If anyone does give them cautionary information, it's usually about the risks of cougars or bears or drowning. But recently, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have included some information in their brochures about meth labs and the criminals associated with them."

One of the problems, and a key point made by Tynon, is that hard data on the magnitude of this issue is difficult to obtain. Law enforcement agreements between the Forest Service and local, county and state police can result in several agencies tracking crime. Geographical isolation, understaffed law enforcement, and multiple jurisdictions can contribute to crime on national forests going unnoticed, underreported, reported elsewhere, or unavailable. It's likely this is also a problem in national parks, state parks, and other public recreation lands, she said.

It is important, the researchers say in their report, to do more studies that identify the level of crime, how it is spatially distributed, what special techniques work most effectively for mitigating crime in a recreation setting, and how increasing levels of crime and violence affect recreation behavior. Research on these topics has been a low priority in the past, they say, and that should change.

"At this point, we almost have more questions than answers," Tynon said. "Our research has focused on the national forests, but there's evidence that there are similar problems iin national parks. Some political and agency leaders are beginning to get concerned about these issues, and understand that we need to learn more about crime in national parks and national forests."

Until then, Tynon has one simple piece of advice.

"Anything that can happen in the city can happen in the woods," she said. "If you visit our wonderful parks and forests, we want you to be alert and to be safe."

Text and Information provided by OSU News & Communications.