A bill currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate would make it easier for state natural-resources officials to construct new shooting ranges.
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, would make the ranges easier for the states to afford, and it would allow them to be built on federally owned lands. Paul Johansen, wildlife chief for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, says the bill could help the DNR put ranges in parts of the state where there currently are none.
“I think the legislation has great merit,” Johansen said. “There’s no question there’s a great need for places where people can safely shoot.”
The DNR currently operates 31 ranges scattered throughout the Mountain State. Most of those ranges were funded with money raised from sales of $3 hunting- and fishing-license “conservation stamps,” and with federal aid money.
“Public shooting ranges have always been a high priority for us,” he said. “We’ve received a ton of praise from the National Rifle Association and from other states’ fish-and-wildlife agencies for the ranges we’ve built.”
If passed, Capito’s bill — called the “Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act” (S. 992) — would allow new ranges to be constructed on federally managed land. West Virginia has more than a million acres of federal land, mostly in the Monongahela, George Washington and Jefferson national forests.
The bill would also would make ranges easier for the DNR to afford by reducing the state’s contribution toward projects primarily paid for by federal funds.
“Currently, if we use Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration money, we’re required to put in 25 dollars for every 75 dollars we receive,” Johansen explained. “If Sen. Capito’s bill passes, we’d only have to pay 10 dollars for every 90 dollars we get from the feds.”
The DNR built a slew of ranges during the 1990s, but since then the pace of construction has slowed. Johansen says ranges “remain a high priority” for the agency, but acknowledges that maintaining facilities after they’re built is neither easy nor cheap.
“Public ranges come with a cost, not only in developing the sites, but also in upkeep and maintenance, which can get pretty expensive,” he added.
One common complaint about West Virginia’s ranges is that they’re too often strewn with litter and are too easily vandalized. Johansen says DNR officials are working to address the problems.
“The vandalism is from a small bunch of people doing very stupid things,” he said. “We’ve had instances in which people have shot holes in roofs over the ranges’ bench areas, or they’ve brought in TVs and other junk to use as targets.
“In problem areas, we’re exploring the idea of hiring people to police the ranges, to keep them clean and to keep shooters from doing dumb things.”
The Capito legislation doesn’t address maintenance costs, but Johansen said if it passes it would encourage DNR officials to build more ranges.
“We’re not done building ranges,” he said. “I think we’ve done an excellent job so far, but there are still areas of the state that are still without facilities. What is attractive about Sen. Capito’s legislation is that it will focus the opportunity to develop facilities on parts of the state where we have a definite need for new ranges.”