Borough shooting range plans under fire

September 20, 2005

DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - As the Mat-Su Borough Assembly prepares to consider three possible sites for a borough-owned shooting range, Susan Lindquist and her family have become more concerned.

Gun owners in the Valley have earned a bad reputation because of people who shoot at road signs and in makeshift target ranges. In an attempt to provide gun enthusiasts with a designated safe place to shoot, the assembly unanimously adopted a pair of resolutions calling for the identification of potential sites for a public shooting range.

Borough officials determined that two sites on borough-owned land in the Point MacKenzie area (one near the intersection of Point MacKenzie and Alsop Road and the other a mile north of that site) and a third site off South Burma Road northwest of Jewel Lake were suitable for a shooting range. During its regular meeting Tuesday, the assembly will discuss declaring one of the three sites a shooting area.

The selection of those sites has drawn the ire of Lindquist and several other neighbors.

Lindquist and her family bought property adjacent to the Jewel Lake site, and have been using it for recreation as they develop plans to build a permanent home on the property. The thought of having an unsupervised rifle range next door scares her.

"We'd be within the range of a stray bullet," Lindquist said of the proximity of the planned shooting area to her property. "We spend a lot of time there with our children and plan to raise horses when we make it our primary residence. Having an unsupervised shooting range for a neighbor puts my family at risk for injury or death."

She added that family members hunt, and she's not opposed to guns. But Lindquist doesn't believe the shooting facility proposed by the borough is appropriate for that area.

"I think the site chosen will have a great impact on wildlife and public safety," Lindquist said.

Steve Rowland, a supporter of developing a shooting range in the Palmer-Wasilla area, questions the feasibility of the sites.

"I applaud the effort to finally locate a site for a shooting range within the populated area of the borough, it's long overdue," Rowland said. "However, the current proposal to locate the range in the Point MacKenzie area fails to provide the type of accessible facility that is needed."

Rowland went on to state that the location of the Birchwood Shooting Range in Chugiak, 30 minutes away, is still closer than the one-hour drive it will take to get to Point MacKenzie.

"The planned sites would not provide a service that will be used by local shooters," Rowland said. "They're just too far away. The sites might be used by shooters who live in the Knik-Goose Bay area, but you're still going to see the guy wanting to sight in his rifle before a hunting trip going to the end of the road or the abandoned gravel pit."

Others question the expense needed to develop the sites, since two of the locations would need new roads and that would lead to increased maintenance costs.

A portion of the Iditarod National Historic Trail lies in the middle of one of the proposed Point MacKenzie parcels and is the site favored by the parks, recreation and trails advisory board. The Knik 200 sled dog race crosses privately owned land adjacent to the other Point MacKenzie site, which is located near the Alsop Road-Point MacKenzie Road intersection.

All three sites received more negative than supportive comments during the public-comment period, but the site being considered - the one crossed by the Iditarod National Historic Trail - had no specific negative comments. The planning commission refused to recommend a site based on the public input and questions regarding who would be responsible for the management of the site, if approved.

The parks, recreation and trails advisory board agreed, and together with the planning commission forwarded for consideration the site that received the least number of negative comments.

A public hearing will

be held today during the assembly's regular meeting at 7 p.m. regarding the selection of a site and reclassification of the land to allow for a shooting range to be developed.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.