Carroll Co. residents concerned about trespassing near high-voltage lines

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A group of hunters says trespassing on their hunting lease has created a dangerous situation.
 
Nearly every weekend, you can see ATVs on a property nicknamed Cross Plaines, a transmission line right of way in Carroll County.
 
It's good fun for the riders, but the president of the Piebald Hunting Club says the situation has become a nightmare.
 
"We have no privacy here. It's just like a revolving door," Larry Barnhouse said.
 
Barnhouse says the hunting club spends $24,000 a year to lease the 3,000-acre property bordering the transmission pathway and they have done so for decades with few problems – until now.
 
The club believes social media has fueled interest in the land. They say the numerous trespassers leave piles of trash, tear down fences and steal thousands of dollars in deer stands for scrap metal.
 
"I've seen where they have taken shotguns and shot the bottom of the rail off and they just take the stand with them," Barnhouse said.
 
Barnhouse showed Channel 2's Tom Regan where the trespassers set up a fire below a transmission line and set up a makeshift shooting range.
 
"There's been two people killed here. There was one boy paralyzed. The last one was killed three years ago," Barnhouse said.
 
Pollution from trucks also pours into the headwaters of a Carroll County reservoir. An expensive truck got stuck in the water just last week.
 
"One boy had to leave his truck overnight because he couldn't get it out. When he came back Sunday morning, it was completely totaled," Barnhouse said.
 
Barnhouse says when he tries to keep people off the property he has been threatened by trespassers.
 
Georgia Transmission, the owner of the right of way, told Regan they plan to erect stronger fences and entrances and to work with law enforcement to crack down on trespassers.