The Bureau of Land Management is closing more than a thousand acres of public land near Apache Junction for two years to build a new recreation area.
Neighbors have complained the land is a hot spot for prolonged camping and illegal dumping, but now, many are concerned about where those campers will go.
Colleen Campos lives just down the road from one of the entrances to Tonto National Forest. She says they love it there for all the hiking and mountain biking.
But Campos says squatters have made the outdoors a nightmare.
“They would leave copious amounts of trash, they’d also leave human waste, they would destroy the natural desert,” said Campos, who lives on the outskirts of Apache Junction.
She says trailers have been staying on the federal forest land for months on end, even when signs say ‘No Camping’ for the first mile and 300 feet on either side of the road or trail.
“I found a bag of needles a couple of months ago at the entrance, a very big bag of needles,” said Campos.
Now, there are new concerns over the closure of the more than one thousand acres of public land along State Route 88 near Hackamore and Nodak roads on Monday.