Knik River PUA Shooting Range closed for construction

WASILLA — The Knik River Public Use Area shooting range is temporarily closed until July 15 for phase 1 construction of a designated shooting range and parking area just north of Jim Lake. No shooting or public access will be allowed in the construction area during the construction period.

The legislature appropriated $400,000 for initial construction during fiscal year 2014. Another $500,000 has been appropriated for fiscal year 2015 to complete the full range construction effort. The current construction work will provide an access road, parking for approximately 20 vehicles, and an entry path to a 100-yard, covered shooting range with benches. Additional different yardage ranges and a shotgun clay bird shooting area are envisioned as part of the fully completed facility.

The KRPUA is managed by DNR’s Division of Mining, Land, and Water out of their Southcentral Regional Office. The area was created through a legislative process and signed into law by Governor Frank Murkowski on June 30, 2006.

Land within the KRPUA boundary encompasses approximately 200,000 acres of state owned lands, and another 60,000 acres of federally owned lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (Friday Creek and Hunter Creek drainages). There are also approximately 1,000 acres of privately owned lands within the KRPUA boundaries. Private and federally owned lands within the area are not subject to KRPUA enforcement regulations and management objectives.

Information available from the KRPUA website states that like other public use areas in the state, the purpose for establishing the KRPUA is to preserve, perpetuate, and enhance public recreation, enjoyment of fish and wildlife, and the traditional use of fish and wildlife resources.

The area provides for a full-spectrum of outdoor recreational opportunities, and is open to motorized and non-motorized recreational pursuits. Activities common to the area include riding off-highway vehicles, hunting, fishing, trapping, target shooting, boating, flying planes, horseback riding, biking, hiking, camping, and wildlife viewing.

The shooting range will provide a safe and directed place for hunters and recreational shooters to sight in and shoot their firearms and is in full compliance with the stated purposes for the creation of the public use area.

For further information and updates, go to www.knikriver.alaska.gov. For questions, contact Travis Jensen, the KRPUA land manager at 269-8503 or at travis.jensen@alaska.gov.