Snoqualmie Ranger District may close recreational shooting? Action Required!

[bearpaw]

Keeping the Snoqualmie Ranger District open to recreational shooting is dependent upon shooters engaging with the Forest Service to solve problems associated with recreational shooting.  If you recreationally  shoot in this District , the NRA strongly encourages you to attend the meeting and offer support in keeping the corridor open to safe shooting.

A strong presence of shooters is needed at the meeting, if you can't attend the meeting to support shooting, send email to mschramm@fs.fed.us or call (425) 888-8751.



Washington: USFS Hosting Meeting August 4 to Discuss Recreational Shooting in Snoqualmie Ranger District
 
The U.S. Forest Service has scheduled a second meeting to discuss recreational shooting in the Snoqualmie Ranger District of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, specifically recreational shooting that takes place along the Highway 410 corridor.  The intent of the meeting is to have a general discussion about what is happening with respect to recreational shooting along the corridor, particularly problems with unsafe shooting practices and pressures that the Forest is receiving to close the corridor.

The Forest Service is hoping that the upcoming meeting will encourage shooters to assist them in keeping the Snoqualmie Ranger District open to shooting through clean up events and the promotion of safe shooting practices.

The meeting details are as follows:

Tuesday August 4, 2015  from 6:30-7:30 pm
Department of Natural Resources Building
950 Farman Ave
Enumclaw, WA 98022
 
Only two individuals who support recreational shooting attended the meeting held May 21.  During that meeting, the action items listed below were discussed and they will be on the table at the upcoming August 4 meeting.

•   Calendar of quarterly/semi-regular pit cleanup events
•   Notice of posted signs, and a regular check on them to make sure they are still standing
•   Hard closures of unsafe shooting areas, such as the ridge areas overlooking CRR. Draw more attention to the main pits, with safe backstops.
•   Implementation of safety awareness material to the general public (e.g. online videos, etc.)
•   Implementation of a volunteer "eyes/ears on the ground" program to report dangerous activities. Maybe set up an email address to receive these, with some sort of a template form. Asking for data like, photos, license plate numbers, etc.

Meeting attendees can contact Martie Schramm, District Ranger, for more information either by email at mschramm@fs.fed.us or by phone (425) 888-8751.

Keeping the Snoqualmie Ranger District open to recreational shooting is dependent upon shooters engaging with the Forest Service to solve problems associated with recreational shooting.  If you recreationally  shoot in this District , the NRA strongly encourages you to attend the meeting and offer support in keeping the corridor open to safe shooting.




A strong presence of shooters is needed at the meeting, if you can't attend the meeting to support shooting, send email to mschramm@fs.fed.us or call (425) 888-8751.

[bigtex]

Well the title of this thread is definitely misleading. No the USFS is not proposing closing the entire Snoqualmie Ranger District to shooting. There has been a USFS No Shooting area (excluding hunting) along the I90 corridor for almost 10 years now. What the proposal is now is to enact a similar closure in the White River area.

The fire behind this engine is the Crystal River Ranch group. To see what evidence they have and who are supporting them check out their website: http://crystalriverranch.org/

[bearpaw]

Well the title of this thread is definitely misleading. No the USFS is not proposing closing the entire Snoqualmie Ranger District to shooting. There has been a USFS No Shooting area (excluding hunting) along the I90 corridor for almost 10 years now. What the proposal is now is to enact a similar closure in the White River area.

The fire behind this engine is the Crystal River Ranch group. To see what evidence they have and who are supporting them check out their website: http://crystalriverranch.org/

 
Where did it say the entire district, the title does not specify how much area!
What's important is that the forest is talking of closing more areas to shooting, every loss of area is another step in the wrong direction. People need to respond!

[CAMPMEAT]

We, the public, own all Forest Service Lands in the entire country. What gives the Forest Service the right to close down, prevent OUR use, of OUR lands is my question ? Kinda like closing down some freeways because people litter more in one area and not the other. The FS needs to be cleaned up, since the taxpayers pay the wages of all in the FS.

[smittyJ]

We, the public, own all Forest Service Lands in the entire country. What gives the Forest Service the right to close down, prevent OUR use, of OUR lands is my question ? Kinda like closing down some freeways because people litter more in one area and not the other. The FS needs to be cleaned up, since the taxpayers pay the wages of all in the FS.

If "we the public" didn't abuse the land there wouldn't be a problem in the first place but since "we the public" can't be trusted someone has to manage it. Granted it is just a minority that causes the abuse but the majority needs to get more active!!

[CAMPMEAT]

We, the public, own all Forest Service Lands in the entire country. What gives the Forest Service the right to close down, prevent OUR use, of OUR lands is my question ? Kinda like closing down some freeways because people litter more in one area and not the other. The FS needs to be cleaned up, since the taxpayers pay the wages of all in the FS.

If "we the public" didn't abuse the land there wouldn't be a problem in the first place but since "we the public" can't be trusted someone has to manage it. Granted it is just a minority that causes the abuse but the majority needs to get more active!!

I know this. I just don't like an overstepping government who does crap after the fact. THEY never try and solve the problem. They create another worthless law to do whatever, when they can't enforce the first problem, is where I'm coming from. Also, the FS does a horrible job at anything if you ask me. Way to top heavy with enviro, anti everything. All they want is more untouched, inaccessible lands.

[lamrith]

I am really not against banning target shooting on public lands. Every place around me that it happens at looks like a garbage dump. Not to mention all the dead trees. Personally I feel target shooting belongs on private land.

Yes some of the pits get to look like trash, it is disgusting and usually not those of us that hunt.  Then we take groups out on a weekend and clean it up, no we should not have to, but we do what we must to keep the resource open.

Once we lose public land shooting then we are all forced to various ranges some of which honestly really do not care about the patrons as much as they should, we are a $ source, nothing more.  Many come up with really down right dumb club rules and have RSO's that should not ever be dealing with the public, let alone in a position of authority.

Also many outdoor ranges (you know, the ones where we get to shoot at 100yrds+ so that we can be effective and ethical hunters) are getting attacked constantly and forced to close.  It is happening gradually, one range at a time, then we have no place to shoot outdoors. 

We are getting to that point we have to stop giving an inch to the anti gun crowd as there are not many inches left to give.

[CAMPMEAT]

I am really not against banning target shooting on public lands. Every place around me that it happens at looks like a garbage dump. Not to mention all the dead trees. Personally I feel target shooting belongs on private land.

Yes some of the pits get to look like trash, it is disgusting and usually not those of us that hunt.  Then we take groups out on a weekend and clean it up, no we should not have to, but we do what we must to keep the resource open.

Once we lose public land shooting then we are all forced to various ranges some of which honestly really do not care about the patrons as much as they should, we are a $ source, nothing more.  Many come up with really down right dumb club rules and have RSO's that should not ever be dealing with the public, let alone in a position of authority.

Also many outdoor ranges (you know, the ones where we get to shoot at 100yrds+ so that we can be effective and ethical hunters) are getting attacked constantly and forced to close.  It is happening gradually, one range at a time, then we have no place to shoot outdoors. 

We are getting to that point we have to stop giving an inch to the anti gun crowd as there are not many inches left to give.

Exactly what you said in the last sentence. We have to stop immediately giving an inch to all groups. It's biting us in the butt...rapidly.

[bearpaw]

My opinion is that public lands should remain open for shooting or for any other legal activity. If there are people littering and not cleaning up their mess then get law enforcement to do their job, that's what we pay them for. It's already against the law to litter, and people break the law, what good will it do to outlaw legal people from shooting? Better to enforce the existing laws to solve the problem! Hunters can help with this by reporting unlawful acts and helping clean up existing messes.

[Special T]

Unfortunately These closures dont really solve problems. The main reason why is because there is no alternative. These closures concentrate MORE shooting into less area, THEN the outdoor ranges or clubs get attacked for disturbing the area.

I have said this before, but when I was in Arkansas there were MANY 100-200 yard ranges in each county. They were self service. Plain  concrete shooting tables and large dirt berm backstops. Simple, Effective, and concentrated shooting in one area for safety's sake. Since closure of public lands to target shooting seems to be the norm, we must insist on an alternative like an old gravel pit. The state (I know not the USFS) takes funds from Concealed Carry Permits to go into the shooting range improvement fund. Public alternatives need to be provided.

[SCRUBS]

My opinion is that public lands should remain open for shooting or for any other legal activity. If there are people littering and not cleaning up their mess then get law enforcement to do their job, that's what we pay them for. It's already against the law to litter, and people break the law, what good will it do to outlaw legal people from shooting? Better to enforce the existing laws to solve the problem! Hunters can help with this by reporting unlawful acts and helping clean up existing messes.

 

[trophyhunt]

The amount of trash, glass and shooting garbage on the 70 rd is simply amazing.  Every time I go up there it is worse and I never see forest personnel or leo around. I'm a bit divided on this closure for that small area, one side of me says close it and patrol the hell out of it from litter bugs.  The other side of me says leave it open but patrol the hell out of it and start writing tickets to people for not picking up their crap.  The photo's in the link that bigtex posted give you a good idea what is going on up there, it's very bad.  One spot people like to trap shoot is just above a bunch of houses, they put signs up to tell people not to shoot there, but you can imagine was happens to those signs.  We pay the forest circus to keep an eye on the woods, but I never see those young kids patrolling at all when I'm up there.  The people wanting this closure are not anit gun, they say this on there website, they just want to feel safe in their homes.  And like I said, the trash  is simply amazing.  Goes back to that old saying, a few bad apples ruin it for everyone. 

[CAMPMEAT]

Have federal prisoners pick it up. We pay for them to lift weights, eat our food and watch TV all day. At least make 'em work.

[smittyJ]

We, the public, own all Forest Service Lands in the entire country. What gives the Forest Service the right to close down, prevent OUR use, of OUR lands is my question ? Kinda like closing down some freeways because people litter more in one area and not the other. The FS needs to be cleaned up, since the taxpayers pay the wages of all in the FS.

If "we the public" didn't abuse the land there wouldn't be a problem in the first place but since "we the public" can't be trusted someone has to manage it. Granted it is just a minority that causes the abuse but the majority needs to get more active!!

Agree!!

I know this. I just don't like an overstepping government who does crap after the fact. THEY never try and solve the problem. They create another worthless law to do whatever, when they can't enforce the first problem, is where I'm coming from. Also, the FS does a horrible job at anything if you ask me. Way to top heavy with enviro, anti everything. All they want is more untouched, inaccessible lands.

[smittyJ]

Have federal prisoners pick it up. We pay for them to lift weights, eat our food and watch TV all day. At least make 'em work.

Great idea!!