Allenspark Range

Shooting range under fire

ALLENSPARK - With a carpet of spent casings, the former Allenspark dump looks like a battlefield - and it might as well be called that.
Armed with complaints, people living around the dump are trying to shoot down a proposal to reopen the area for target shooting.

People have been shooting on the dump for years and the site has been growing in popularity. It is U.S. Forest Service land that sits just off Highways 7 and 72 in Boulder County. More than 80 homes surround the small parcel.
The complaints from neighbors focus on two issues: noise and safety.
Jon Lane lives nearby and says shooters visit the range day and night.
"It's just bam, bam, bam," he said.
While neighbors hate the noise, they fear the bullets.
"There are houses that you wouldn't know are there and [the people there] have had near misses while sitting on their deck ... Bullets have gone whizzing by their heads," Margaret Patterson, who lives near the range, said.
The Forest Service says 18 "near misses" have been documented from 2008 to 2009.
After receiving those reports, the Forest Service banned shooting from that range last month. But that ban is only temporary. The Forest Service is now considering a plan that would allow shooting at the range to resume.
"Shooting is a legitimate use of Forest Service land," John Bustos, spokesperson for the Forest Service, said. "When we decided it was a legitimate use, then we had to take a look at providing that opportunity."
The Forest Service's proposed plan would add berms to catch the bullets, create various shooting stations, prohibit night shooting and require an outside organization or gun club to manage the range.
"Based on the analysis that we did, it would make the area safer," Bustos said.
The neighbors are not convinced.
"When there are too many people here, they're not going to stay where they're supposed to," resident Cindy Rockett said. "They'll be shooting this way and that."
The group has suggested moving the range, but the Forest Service says there are few, if any, other suitable spots in the area.
Right now, the Forest Service's proposal is just a proposal. As part of the process, they are asking for input from the public.
To find out more about the project and how you can submit a comment go to:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/projects/ea-projects/nepa_project.shtml?project=32622.