Expanding KRPUA would add insult to injury

The state of Alaska Department of Natural Resources is proposing to expand the Knik River Public Use Area (KRPUA) shooting range. The location and construction of the KRPUA shooting range was an unfortunate and ill-considered land use decision, and expanding this shooting range would add insult to injury.

The Mud Lake/Jim Lake area is one of the richest wildlife areas in Southcentral Alaska. The high concentrations of tundra and trumpeter swans that stop in these marshes is spectacular, prompting Audubon Alaska to identify the area as an Important Bird Area. Late-spawning silver salmon crowd the shorelines of these lakes into November, attracting hundreds of bald eagles. The cliffs that form the backdrop host nesting golden eagles and large groups of Dall sheep.

The Mud Lake/Jim Lake area deserves the very best management attention that we can provide. This area could be attractive to and popular with canoeists, hikers, birdwatchers and families eager for a glimpse of wild Alaska. But for decades the area has been given over to neglect and abuse to the point that the mere mention of Jim Creek conjures images of burning cars, endless gunfire and trash. The common perception of the place is that it is dangerous and disgusting.

The perception is close to reality. I spend approximately 50 days a year in the Mud Lake/Jim Lake area, and the beauty and fascination of the wild richness of the place is balanced against the lawless and disrespectful human activity that I regularly encounter. Over the course of the last year I have encountered young men shooting spawning salmon, young men driving ATVs in the wetlands, and young men burning everything imaginable. I have had my tires slashed and I have been threatened at gunpoint.

Much of what we see at Jim/Mud traces directly to guns. The best parallels are the two former “Rambo” ranges in the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge at Reflection Lake and Cottonwood Creek. Both of these places used to be identical to what we still see at Mud/Jim, with burnt vehicles, shot-up TVs and tons of lead shot pumped into the ground. To the commendation of Joe Meehan and the Friends of Palmer Hay Flats these places have been rehabilitated to the point that they are attractive and popular destinations for families with young kids.

We can and should do the same thing with Mud/Jim, but it begins with guns. We have to acknowledge that the unregulated encouragement of shooting is the root of all the problems we see at the KRPUA. Placing an unmanaged, unregulated shooting range at the end of a long dirt road has proved an irresistible invitation to lawlessness.

We were told that the construction of the designated shooting range in 2014 would cure many of the ills, but it hasn’t. New informal shooting ranges keep springing up and the rampant lawlessness continues. The range is supposed to be closed on Wednesdays but every Wednesday I go there is still gunfire in the area. I commend the Alaska State Troopers for their increased presence, and I have even seen DNR land managers on a few occasions.

There are numerous private shooting ranges in the Valley that are well-managed and safe. There is no pressing need for the state to spend $1 million on an unmanaged shooting range on public land, especially during these tight budget times.

I cannot imagine any benefits that will come from expanding the shooting range. While I wait for the day that shooting ceases entirely at Mud/Jim, there are meaningful steps that DNR can take that will improve the situation.

1. Place full time staff at the range during all open shooting hours.

2. Make the range realistically inaccessible during all closed hours.

3. Place monitoring cameras at the range.

4. Develop a noise-baffling or noise-dampening system to reduce the roar of gunfire that carries over the entire Mud/Jim area.

5. Block, police and remediate the many informal shooting ranges that have sprung up along the Maud Road Extension corridor.

6. Remediate the lead contamination of soils throughout the Mud/Jim area.

7. Expand the closed range days from one (Wednesday) to two, including one weekend day.

8. Install a gate at the head of Maud Road Extension similar to the gate at the Cottonwood Creek entrance at the Palmer Hay Flats. Close the gate after 10 p.m.

9. Special attention should be given to the shore zone of Jim Lake, where salmon spawn amidst thousands of shotgun cartridges. This area should be closed to vehicles with a gate near the cul-de-sac at the end of Maud Road Extension.

I hope DNR will do all of these things before any further consideration of expanding the shooting range.

Brad Meiklejohn lives in Eagle River.