Residents will pay fee to use county shooting range

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

The county is outsourcing management of the public shooting range to a local non-profit group, in an effort to keep it cleaner and safer for shooters, but the change will mean a fee schedule and more limited hours of use after it reopens next month.

The shooting range is closed starting today, Aug. 23, until sometime next month, as work crews begin cleaning up the range, located off Kerr Dam road outside of Polson. Plans include installing a 200-yard range, among several improvements, but users will now have to pay a fee to use the range — something that might not sit well with residents used to enjoying it for free.

The idea came about because of constant complaints about garbage being dumped there, parties taking place and other misuses. Handing management over to a local non-profit seemed like the right idea, county commissioner Mike Hutchin said.

"For a number of years, members of Polson Outdoors wanted the responsibility of keeping it clean, keeping it under control, but it just got to be too much work," Hutchin said. "The trash, parties, and damage to the range — they just didn't have enough people to manage it."

With that, the Polson Shooters Association evolved, comprised of members of the NRA, VFW, Marine Corps League, Knights of Columbus and other groups, who want to manage the range properly, said Maurie Morin, PSA spokesperson.

The idea is to have regular range hours with range managers on-hand who will ensure proper usage, Morin said. That will mean improvements to the range, such as keeping it clean, and a safer shooting environment, but it will come with a price, he said.

Just how much the PSA will charge hasn't been determined, Morin said, but members will decide that — and other group bylaws — at a later meeting, after getting public input. While some folks might not like the idea of having to pay for what was once a free service, and put up with more limited hours, it's the only solution to having a proper, professional shooting range, Morin said.

"The main problem is that it resembles a small dump, so we are going to be shutting it down starting Aug. 23 (today), and reconfiguring it and cleaning it up, and generally putting some organization into it," Morin said.

Morin said fees will most likely be charged two ways - a per-day fee for occasional users, or an annual fee for more regular users. He said he expects some folks to be unhappy with the fee schedule, regardless of what it turns out to be, but it's the only option for maintaining a more professional range.

"We will lease the land from the county and run it as a professional range. There will be a fee structure, and more limited hours, so people can't fool around up there and trash it," he said.

Lake County Sheriff's deputies routinely respond to complaints of high school students partying there, and it's not uncommon to find one or more dishwashers or washing machines that have been dumped there and shot full of holes. But PSA range masters will provide legitimate targets for people to use, Morin said, among several services folks will get for their money.

"We intend to supply targets as part of the fee structure to make available for shooters to use. There will be several varieties so people won't have to bring milk jugs," he said. "We'll clean up the area and lock it up to keep kids out at night."

Hutchin said the county's insurance policy prohibits it from getting into the range-management business, so continuing to have the county oversee it isn't an option. Outsourcing management to a private organization was the best thing to do, he said.

"Our liability insurance clearly says they don't want us in the rifle range business. But we don't want 4-wheel drives driving up the banks like they've done in the past, and no kids partying there," Hutchin said. "We hope we can get this to work."

Under the proposed management plan, PSA officials are looking at having the range open Tuesday through Saturday, Morin said, although that hasn't been finalized. However, folks can expect more limited range hours, since PSA wants to provide a range manager there at all times, he said.

"Our initial plan is to have it open Tuesdays to Saturdays, with Sundays and Mondays closed. We will be soliciting people in the community to join us as range masters," he said. "This won't work until we get the community behind us."

Morin said members are expecting some grumbling about limited hours and paying a fee, but that they'll be taking public feedback on all of those issues before finalizing their plan. For now, the range will be closed for repairs, clean up and improvement, probably for three to four weeks, and will re-open later in September once work is done, Morin said.

Morin said PSA officials will establish public feedback opportunities once they can meet with the county commissioners to finalize dates, so that people can provide input. In the meantime, folks will have to find other areas to shoot, at least for the next few weeks.

The law enforcement range located a hundred yards from the current one is not open to the public, and it's illegal to shoot on Tribal wilderness lands, which includes much of the Mission Mountain Range.