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I have a friend who was stopped by US Marshalls while simply driving out from the Peralta Trailhead (Superstition Mountains). He was threatened with arrest, and told he had to have an AZ State Trust Land permit ($15) simply to use the road. This was on Easter Day, 2012.

Were the marshalls correct, or perhaps just overreacting to the reports of squatters on the AZ Trust property?

We went up Weaver's Needle on Dec 23/2013, and parked at the Peralta TH lot. The lot is well within the Tonto Forest, so is in USFS jurisdcition, and there is a sign that prominently declares there is no fee for parking there. There must have been hundreds of people on the trails that day, and many parked cars had out-of-state license plates, so it is hard for me to believe those people had all gotten Trust permits. On the drive in to the Peralta Parking, the Arizona Trust Land property was prominently marked with warning signs.

I'd appreciate any insights about this issue. Thanks.

Why would a federal agency be attempting to enforce state law?

That''s very odd. Did they show ID?

There are fewer than 4000 deputized U.S. Marshalls. These are their duties ( http://www.usmarshals.gov/duties/factsh ... l-2013.pdf ):

1) Judicial Security
2) Fugitive Operations
3) Asset Forfeiture
4) Prisoner Operations
5) Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System
6) Witness Security

Lots of stuff; not many guys to do it. While all law enforcement officers may render cross agency assistance, or even act to stop a crime normally outside their purview -- for instance a U.S. Marshall could act to stop an armed robbery at the corner 7-11 -- given the extreme non-urgency of the "crime" (and likely just a citation), and the dearth of manpower, I find it hard to believe there were actual U.S. Marshalls even on the road, let alone enforcing laws not under their purview. Maybe your friend misunderstood what agency the "officer" purported to represent. Or maybe it was one of Uncle Joe's GungHo Border Guards ...

kingsnake wrote:Or maybe it was one of Uncle Joe's GungHo Border Guards ...

Since Peralta Road is in Pinal County more likely it would be one of Pinal County Sheriff Babeau's gang.

Back to the original post... according to the live map on the ASLD web site pretty much all the area along the road is all under Grazing Lease so if anything the rancher with the lease would be the one most likely to have a concern.

But there is the one exception along the road... the plot just east of the road where it is designated US Government Court Action. In this case I'd guess is due to the site being used by various law enforcement agencies for SWAT/anti-terrorist type of training. From the road it looks like a bunch of buildings for urban-environment training although I doubt it's used for live fire training being that close to the road.

In this specific case of Peralta Road, as long as you are on the road to the TH and not off on one of the side roads/tracks you do not need the ASLD permit.

Arizona State Land parcel maps site:
http://www.azland.gov/webapps/parcel/

They ID'd themselves as US Marshalls, and were wearing flak jackets and carrying guns. I would guess because US Marshalls have jurisdiction in any part of the US, they might have been there to enforce an action in ambiguous territory. Or as implied, maybe they were there to do swat training (and decided to see whom they could hassle).

Thanks for the info. I'm guessing the US Marshalls were mistaken.... but I generally don't argue with people pointing guns. ;)

US Marshalls are about as likely to enforce AZ State Trust land regulations as they are to monitor cheating in Scrabble. I remain skeptical of their true identity.

Does that mean I need to quit cheating at scrabble?

Widowmaker wrote:Does that mean I need to quit cheating at scrabble?

Only on Peralta Rd.

All law enforcement officers I have seen wear kevlar under their uniform, not over it, and even when in a tactical configuration, they have some *extremely* obvious indicator that they are law enforcement (probably to prevent friendly fire in situations where shoot decisions are made in micro-seconds), e.g. "MARSHALL" in big yellow letters on the back of their uniform. If they have anything over the uniform, it is a tactical vest (for carrying ammo, tear gas, etc.)

I made bit of a joke up there about Uncle Joe's border guards, but seriously Arizona has quite a few militia types who like to fantasize that they are law enforcement, and they like to run around the desert doing it (Joe Arapaio has even given Steven Seagal a badge for cripes sake ...) plz:

I'll have to ask him subtly if he remembers the details.

@big_load
who plays scrabble these days? Its all about words with friends

@kingsnake
Yup, wanna be cops that have been rejected by various law enforcement agencies for good reason.
Unfortunately some of them actually make it through the screening process and end up making the good look bad.
You know the ones whose actions result in lawsuits that cost the taxpayers big $$$$$$$$$.
Sometimes they even become the heads of police departments and sheriff's of counties.

@SuperstitionGuy
I unfortunately work with a ton of these individuals Somehow they have become sworn officers and insist that they not only enforce the law but are judge, jury and executioner. Many of their egos are so swollen they forget that they serve the public. The people they protect pay their wages.

On the other hand there are a select few that understand their duties and take them very serious but sadly there are very few of these fine offices

Bradshaws wrote:Many of their egos are so swollen they forget that they serve the public.

Huh? Those are usually the ones who never knew there job was to serve the public. Unfortunately I know more who are in it just for the power trip than those who truly are in it to serve.