Proposed Plan Would Create More Legal Ranges; Offer More Management
Trevor Phipps
Decision time is looming for a final federal government decision on target shooting in national forest areas, surrounding Teller County.
These areas have encountered an explosion of visitors in recent years, a trend partially fueled by recreation-goers from bigger cities. In fact, Teller’s Pike National Forest now is frequented by about 2.5 million visitors every year, making it one of the state’s busiest forests.
For months, a hot issue has been debated by Forest Service officials, county leaders, hunters, gun buffs and local residents: Should target shooting be restricted to certain areas; and in turn, should more shooting ranges get established. The feds appear to favor this approach, part of what they refer to as “Integrated Management of Target Shooting on the Pike National Forest Project.” At times, debates on this topic have gotten quite heated.
The final opportunity for public comment on this project is this week.
On Wednesday night, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., the public has the opportunity to make their opinions known during a forum at the Teller County Sheriff’s Office in Divide, regarding proposals to mitigate shooting in the national forest, in an effort to make it safer for everyone, while respecting the rights of various recreation-users. For months, representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA, the agency which the U.S Forest Service is part of) have been touring the state and getting feedback from the public on what should be done to better mitigate target shooting on public lands, while protecting the rights of gun owners and recreation-users.
As the metropolitans surrounding the national forest grow, government officials have been scrambling for ways to make the public land more accessible for all types of outdoor recreation.
“Dispersed target shooting — where forest visitors set up targets and practice shooting in an undesignated, undeveloped location — is a legal use of National Forest System lands that increased in popularity over the past decade,” the USDA’s Forest and Grassland Supervisor Ryan Nehl said in a letter sent to Teller County Commissioners. “Unfortunately, the number of forest visitors who shoot in an unsafe manner has also increased. These activities have resulted in increasing levels of resource damage, shooting-related wildfires, injuries, and at least one fatality.”
After conducting extensive research, national forest officials devised three options. They then summarized the potential environmental effects for each alternative to present during their series of public meetings.
One option is that nothing would change and people would be allowed to shoot pretty much anywhere in the National Forest except some areas where shooting is already banned. This option is probably the least popular of the three, according to federal officials.
Officials contend that the option they are proposing would achieve a better way to accomplish their goal of managing the national forests and reducing the environmental impact of target shooting. The proposal by federal officials offers what they refer to as “safer land management by using a hybrid-style approach.”
Under this plan, national forest officials would identify the areas on public land that are unsuitable for target shooting and close these areas altogether for target shooting activities. But this proposal calls for more designated shooting areas within the national forest. This could set the stage for more designated shooting ranges. A number of potential sites have already been identified.
According to USDA officials, the plan would require the National Forest Service to develop at least one target shooting range per ranger district, which equates to a minimum of three legal shooting ranges. Officials have already identified nine potential sites for legal target shooting ranges on national forest lands
The proposed plan would also require officials to formulate an “adaptive management framework” that would lay out a plan to better manage target shooting in the future.
The last option presented that was coined by the feds as a “reduced-closure alternative.” This would be identical to the proposed solution, but national forest officials would ban shooting in a reduced number of sections of the national forest.
No matter which option the USDA chooses in the end, legal hunting and archery activities will not be affected by the closures.
Feedback from Teller residents is encouraged during the final public comment period at the sheriff’s office on Wednesday. The final decision will be made after the USDA officials finish their public meetings and review all of the comments later this year.
