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MEDICINE BOW NATIONAL FOREST, Wyo. (AP) - From the Indian wars to the Cold War, the government used 100 square miles here as a military target and training range, firing rifles, mortars and artillery.
That 82-year history may not be immediately apparent to people who camp, hike, fish and drive all-terrain vehicles in the Pole Mountain area — national forest land since 1961. But the signs warning them not to pick up metal objects — possible unexploded ordnance — are a good clue.
The roughly 15 million acres of retired defense sites scattered across the country are littered with old military ordnance, much of it buried. There have been only two cases of old munitions in the U.S. killing or hurting anyone in the last 20 years, but the government is spending $145 million over six years to try to keep that number from rising.
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