Northern Arizona shooting range far away on the horizon

By Russ Walton

October 5, 2006

With all of the hunters northern Arizona caters to and all the firearms enthusiasts normally found in rural areas, it stands to reason that a public shooting range facility in the region would do well.

So why isn’t there one yet?

The answer is two-fold ‹ red tape and public opinion.

In our state, public shooting ranges fall under the direction of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The closest current public shooting range is the Ben Avery facility just north of Phoenix proper and according to AZGF Habitat Ranch Chief Bob Broscheid, a northern region facility is something the department has been working on for a long time.

“Formally, we’ve been working on it for the past 12 years and that started with the Bellemont proposal,” Broscheid said. “But we were discussing the idea before then, so you could say it’s been about 20 years.”

A proposed range was going to go up in the Bellemont area, but when development occurred and people moved in, the new residents protested, cutting its chances.

Since then, AZGF has ‹ through public meetings, environmental studies and work sessions ‹ whittled down a list of several possible sites in northern Arizona to one that currently stands out as the best. At least, that’s the opinion of AZGF.

The site is a large parcel of public land on the west side of Interstate-17 near the Willard Springs exit between Kachina Village and Munds Park.

Broscheid said the department is focusing on Flagstaff as the center point, due to its population. From there, AZGF is searching for a location that is no more than 45 minutes drive time from the center of Flagstaff, could handle large shooting events and a location that also already has power and water.

Some of those parameters, Broscheid said, primarily came from public input at meetings and from comments sent in to the head office.

The new proposed location, however, may encounter similar resistance as in Bellemont.

“I’m against the reasons for the shooting range for all the same reasons you’d want it in Williams,” said Munds Park resident Jim Ziska, who is launching a campaign with others to have the location moved. “I think one of the biggest reasons for the Game and Fish to have it in Munds Park is because they want to draw shooters from Phoenix.”

Ziska said the proposed area is not full of hunters and firearms enthusiasts, but rather is mainly populated by retirees and others who like the area for its peace and quiet. Ziska and others are wary of the noise and possible danger that could be created, and are also not happy with giving up a large piece of public forestland near their homes. He also said that most of the public comments in favor of the location came from Flagstaff shooters as opposed to those in the immediate area.

Broscheid, however, said that testing indicated the noise would be minimal.

“We did a preliminary sound study that we actually have available,” Broscheid said. “We went through a variety of calibers ‹ everything from a .22 to a .50 caliber weapon ‹ and basically what that study said is that there was only one site one mile west of the proposed location. Nothing was heard in Munds Park and very little was heard in Newman Park and it’s the very little that we have to go and explore.”

If AZGF ends up solidifying the Munds Park location, the department would have to do a land exchange with the Forest Service, which would also entail going through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

The facility would be aimed at providing users with a wide variety of range activities, such as rifle and pistol shooting, shotgun, skeet and trap, archery and an area for law enforcement training. The actual size of the facility has yet to be determined and dry/wet camping might also be available.

So, what about getting a range in Williams?

Because of the drive time between Flagstaff and the potential sites in Williams ‹ which Broscheid said took over an hour ‹ Williams was out of the picture. He said that if there was enough demand in the future, AZGF would examine Williams under a totally separate process.

Currently, the Williams Police Department asks local shooters to use the Three Sisters cinder pit out past the Elephant Rocks Golf Course for target shooting. Another range is located near Kaibab Lake, but that one is not public.

The WPD currently uses it for training purposes and now the city has chosen to also use it for hunter education classes, the Williams High School rifle club and the black powder shoots during Rendezvous Days instead of Buckskinner Park.

Williams City Manager Dennis Wells himself admitted that though Williams has plenty of shooters, demand probably isn’t high enough yet to bring a public facility here.

“In this area, the demand is not the same as in Flagstaff due to population,” Wells said. “The problem also lies in a lot of the regulatory issues present.”

Meanwhile, Ziska said he has a petition, so far, of 600 signatures against the Munds Park location and offered that if enough people submitted comments, it might help bring one to the Williams area.

Wells said the only other option for Williams residents is if someone were to construct a private shooting range with their own funding, but also said that doing so would be a major undertaking.

For more information or to submit comments, log on to the AZGF Northern Arizona Regional Shooting Facility web page at www.nazrsf.com or call the Flagstaff office of AZGF at (928) 774-5227.