The man’s campsite was found in the Tonto National Forest (pictured). Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A man has been sentenced after he was found living illegally in a national forest for years. What’s more, his campsite had amassed nearly 1,000 pounds of trash around it.
Mark Aaron Gatz was arrested on June 25 after officers found his campsite, located a half mile into an unmarked dirt trail in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest. As NBC News reports, he had built a canopy structure over his SUV and was burning a campfire in a stone structure designed for cooking. Surrounding the campsite was an unusually large amount of refuse and debris. He was initially charged with building illegal fires, overstaying time limits for camping, leaving trash in unsanitary conditions and related counts as part of an 18-count federal indictment.
This wasn’t the first time U.S. Forest Service officers had come into contact with Gatz, according to probable cause statements for an arrest warrant. They wrote that in a previous encounter they found a campsite with nearly a half ton of garbage, including “tires, plastic bags, trash bags, aluminum cans, and other items of trash.” He told Forest Service officials he had been living in Tonto National Forest for about two years, and the surrounding Payson Pine Area for about eight years.
“There was roughly half an acre of resources ruined due to so much trash and goods on the ground for an extended period of time,” wrote an officer in a July 2025 report.
Gatz pleaded guilty Monday to violation of fire restrictions and residential use of the forest without a permit. As part of the plea agreement, he was sentenced to time served and three years of probation, according to court records.
