Wasilla shooting range is a good idea

I believe that the planned shooting range for the Wasilla area is an excellent idea and a needed resource for the Mat-Su Valley in general.

The shooting range planned for the Wasilla area needs to be considered with respect to the most flexible option and, certainly, with respect to cleanup and ongoing facilities’ maintenance costs.

I understand that the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is suggesting an indoor range for joint civilian/National Guard use to be built at the Alcantra Armory off of Bogard Road. I am doubtful that a joint civilian/National Guard indoor range at Alcantra would work.

I don’t see how the facility would be open other than during hours when National Guard personnel were present, eliminating the potential use by many civilians who might have only an early evening or weekend available to shoot. Alcantra is an Air National Guard facility with limited operational hours and security and operational considerations that might restrict public access.

Safety remediation of indoor ranges can be expensive. It can be difficult to find a company to clean indoor ranges once the impact blocks are saturated; replacement of the impact blocks has to then be made at no small cost. The impact blocks, should they need to be transported, are then hazardous materials. This raises the cost of cleaning the range.

The cost of maintaining the facility should also be a consideration in terms of heat and power, plus building maintenance. This means a staff or a contractor to run the facility.

I believe that a couple of good-sized outdoor combination pistol/rifle ranges could be built for less than the cost of one indoor range. Birchwood Range and the Matanuska Valley Sportsmen’s Range maintain their facilities through memberships. This mechanism could also defray the costs of maintaining the proposed range.

Construction of an outdoor facility would be relatively simple and cost effective. Sites selected with adequate alluvium for material and drainage would be ideal — and in this Valley, not generally a problem.

I do not recommend clay for the impact face. Cheap material, but it raises the cost of any safety remediation. The military in Hawaii loves clay impact berm faces because they are cheap to construct, but expensive to clean. Use sand and the eventual safety remediation will be cheap. If there is a good alluvium base, the sand is available with screening.

Were the construction project considered in the light of community benefit, the earth work and much of the labor for the covered shooting positions could be donated by CO A 411th BN Combat Eng (HVY), USAR, as a training exercise. I know that this Alaska-based USAR unit has constructed military shooting ranges in the Lower 48 and in Germany, and has an excellent inventory of heavy equipment to do the job. The USAR can donate work and equipment time as training to community projects.

I do not believe the AK ARNG maintains a combat engineer unit with heavy equipment. I believe the AK Air National Guard has a civil engineering unit, but usually those units are construction support with limited heavy equipment.

In any case, the resources are available to mitigate cost with respect to having portions or all of the construction donated, leaving the cost of any materials for covered shooting positions and a range shack.

Outdoor ranges should not present a problem with respect to weather. Alaskans will handle the challenges. Further, Birchwood and Rabbit Creek are examples of outdoor ranges used year-round.

I believe the Alaska State Defense Force should be included as an organizational user for any range that the state puts money into the construction of, irrespective of DMVA’s and our governor’s opposition to the arming of that portion of the organized militia.

The state of Alaska would be well served to build and maintain with the borough and cities’ shooting ranges that would allow the unorganized militia (general population), the organized militia (the National Guard and the Alaska State Defense Force), Alaska State Troopers and local police departments to improve and maintain their skills with firearms. This is a safety and internal security issue for the state and local governments, as well as support for the sports of shooting and hunting.

Larry Wood is a 57-year resident of Alaska and businessman living in Palmer.