Shooting range draws fire from Butte residents

BUTTE — A shooting range planned for the end of the Maud Road extension has a group of local residents up in arms.

The range is one of two included in the Knik River Public Use Area Plan passed in September of 2008 after a two-year public process. The area has a long history of target shooting, said Dave Griffin of the Department of Natural Resources. The intent of the ranges is to concentrate the target shooting into two safe areas, one at the end of Maud Road and one off of Sullivan Road.

The passage of the plan gave DNR the approval to move forward with the projects. The range off Maud Road was deemed more viable at the current time, and DNR has finished phase one of the regulations imposing rules on what can be used for targets and a ban on littering.

DNR opened a new public comment period asking for input about the site easement — which includes the size, design, hours of operation and other regulations — and input as to whether the range violates the Alaska Coastal Management Program. The public comment period ends Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Last week, Dan Whatley said he took off from an airstrip outside his home on Maud Road. He banked east, and there he saw it. A deforested rectangle roughly 600-by-100 feet cut out of the birch forest.

“I don’t see how they could go ahead and cut the trees before the public comment period was over,” local resident Ted Cox said.

“The whole plan has been such a sorry disappointment of the public process,” said Kathy Wells, executive director of the Friends of Mat-Su. “They put the public notice out, then cut the trees before the comment period is over? I just don’t get it.”

In response, the Butte Area Residents Civic Organization is fighting back. They have filled an appeal with the Superior Court asking the DNR to address their concerns by starting the public use plan over, said Brit Lively, one of the organizers of the opposition.

“The local comments were mostly against this part of the plan. The whole plan was driven to make this a motor park,” Lively said. “All the objections of the community, the users and those aware of the high value of the area were ignored.”

On Tuesday, a group of residents caught wind of a meeting DNR was having with borough officials to tour the site. The residents saw the toppled trees and tried to voice their concerns to Griffin.

Among the issues raised included the increased traffic to the unmaintained Maud Road extension, the echo of the shots off the mountains, the leeching of lead from spent rounds into Jim Lake and Mud Lake, and the lack of oversight for the operation of the range.

“I’m a hunter and I love to shoot,” Loren Karrs said, “but this is the wrong spot for a range. I have never seen a range on the side of a hill in a drainage area before. The lead is going to get into the water and poison the Jim Lake swans.”

“We live down by Knik River, miles away from here,” said Mark Simson, “and we can hear them every time they shoot here. What’s it going to be like when there’s an unregulated range?”

Trying to calm the upset residents, Acting Borough Mayor Lynne Woods — assemblywoman for the area — asked for positive and constructive comments. The plan is going forward, she said, but it should go forward with input from the community on how to make it better.

“We have to work and try to find ways to solve those kinds of questions,” Woods said in a later interview. “Who’s managing that? Who’s enforcing that? There are some people who just don’t want to hear anymore shooting. Maybe a proper design will help mitigate the sound.”

Griffin, unwilling to address the crowd on Tuesday because it was not an official meeting and not announced to the public, responded to these concerns over the phone on Wednesday.

“I don’t what this to be a state versus the residents of the Butte type thing,” Griffin said, “because there are a lot of other residents who are supportive of the plan and have been involved in the public use area plan from the beginning.”

Its true, Griffin said, that he does not want any more comments about the location of the range. That has already been determined by the public use area plan. But he is looking for input about the Coastal Management Plan and the design and operation of the range.

“There are certain standards of development in the coastal zone listed at the end of the application,” Griffin said. “Folks are supposed to look at those standards and determine if this range fits within them.”

“We welcome comments on the size of the easement, the rules of operation, the times of usage and the design of the range,” he added.

Lead is a concern, Griffin said, but that is why they chose the spot they did. The current, user-created range is a dried stream bed that acts as drainage when it rains. By moving the range to the new location, they did have to cut down trees, but the ground is typically dry, he said. Lead only moves in wet soil, and the high pH balance will neutralize much of the toxicity.

The state is not held liable for any accidents, and there are no plans to improve the road, Griffin said. Additionally, DNR and the state troopers have the authority to ticket anyone who violates the posted rules and regulations, whatever those end up being.

As for the design of the range, DNR won a $20,000 grant from the Alaska chapter of the Friends of NRA. Chapter president Denny Hamann is going to be somewhat of an adviser throughout the process.

“Self-enforcement ranges are nothing new in Alaska,” said Hamann, “and I can’t think of one that’s ever been a problem.”

Acting Mayor Woods shares Hamann’s optimism. The added infrastructure will be a reminder to people that this area is not lawless.

“Hopefully the publicity will make people realize there are rules out there,” Woods said. “Hopefully this is a sign of better things ahead for all users.”

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or (907) 352-2252.