100 signatures reached
To: Boulder County Commissioners: Matt Jones, Claire Levy, and Marta Loachamin
Fully fund the Boulder Rifle Club Expansion
We request that Boulder County prioritize the lives and safety of Boulder County residents and commit to fully funding the expansion of the Boulder Rifle Club (BRC) from the 2022 county budget and/or with a portion of the money from the Denver Water Settlement Agreement you signed last month.
It has now been a year since Boulder County approved the expansion of the Boulder Rifle Club, which once constructed will allow the USFS to close just under 80,000 acres to recreational sport shooting in Boulder County. Yet the BRC still doesn't have the funds to make this a reality. Every week that passes while the Forest Service lands remain open to recreational sport shooting is another week that Boulder County residents and visitors alike run the risk of being shot and killed while walking, biking, riding, camping and in general enjoying our public lands.
Last month you signed the Settlement Agreement on the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project with Denver Water for $12.5 million dollars, which included $5.1 million dollars for Land Preservation. There is no better way to conserve and protect our public lands than by preventing their further use for sport shooting. We request that you use whatever portion of these funds and/or general funds as is necessary to fully fund the expansion of the BRC, and that you allocate these funds without further delay.
The estimated cost to build the public shooting range is $5 million. The Boulder Rifle Club has been awarded over $900,000 from Colorado Parks and Wildlife for construction of the shooting ranges. It is now your responsibility to fulfill Boulder County's promise both to Boulder County residents and the USFS to open a public shooting range in Boulder County that will allow the USFS to complete the already designated sport shooting closures on our public land.
We urge you to take this bold step to prioritize life over less critical projects and fully fund the BRC.
It has now been a year since Boulder County approved the expansion of the Boulder Rifle Club, which once constructed will allow the USFS to close just under 80,000 acres to recreational sport shooting in Boulder County. Yet the BRC still doesn't have the funds to make this a reality. Every week that passes while the Forest Service lands remain open to recreational sport shooting is another week that Boulder County residents and visitors alike run the risk of being shot and killed while walking, biking, riding, camping and in general enjoying our public lands.
Last month you signed the Settlement Agreement on the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project with Denver Water for $12.5 million dollars, which included $5.1 million dollars for Land Preservation. There is no better way to conserve and protect our public lands than by preventing their further use for sport shooting. We request that you use whatever portion of these funds and/or general funds as is necessary to fully fund the expansion of the BRC, and that you allocate these funds without further delay.
The estimated cost to build the public shooting range is $5 million. The Boulder Rifle Club has been awarded over $900,000 from Colorado Parks and Wildlife for construction of the shooting ranges. It is now your responsibility to fulfill Boulder County's promise both to Boulder County residents and the USFS to open a public shooting range in Boulder County that will allow the USFS to complete the already designated sport shooting closures on our public land.
We urge you to take this bold step to prioritize life over less critical projects and fully fund the BRC.
Why is this important?
We currently have quite a number of people coming to Boulder County to shoot, whether we like it or not because it's legal. As it stands now these recreational sport shooters can legally shoot just about anywhere they want on our National Forest System lands, which are often extremely close to well used trails as well as homes boarding these public lands. The idea in this petition is to offer an alternative for those people interested in recreational sport shooting at just one location within the County that not only enforces safe use, but will prevent bullets from crossing paths with the thousands of other Boulder County residents enjoying the outdoors. In other words, sport shooting is going to happen here whether we like it or not, but we can do a better job of managing it.
There are also 3 other Front Range Counties (Larimer, Gilpin, & Clear Creek) working with the US Forest Service, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to create recreational sport shooting ranges within their counties as part of the Sports Shooting Partnership: https://www.sportshootingpartners.org/resources/ Until these ranges are opened people will continue to use National Forest System Land to practice shooting with very little oversight, or safety measures in place. As our neighboring Counties open their public shooting ranges the National Forest Lands within their County boundaries will be permanently closed to recreational sport shooting, whether or not Boulder County gets their shooting range constructed within the same timeframe. Opening this public shooting range in Boulder County, adjacent to the private one that already exists here, is a step forward toward more oversight and safety.
Links to maps showing the USFS sport shooting closures once the Boulder Rifle Club expansion is complete:
Here is the overall map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/101606_FSPLT3_4656172.pdf
Here is an interactive map: https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTools/index.html?appid=686de900600743db9e54b167fa7bf40f
We have the opportunity in Boulder County to be a trailblazer for the rest of the country in closing recreational sport shooting on public land while offering a safe alternative. After years of discussions and collaboration the USFS passed a Forest Plan Amendment to close just under 80,000 acres of federal land in Boulder County to recreational sport shooting, on the condition that the County opened a new public shooting range to safely accommodate sport shooting. Last year Boulder County finally approved an expansion to the BRC after years of searching for a location. All the hard work has been done. The only thing left now is to fund the project Boulder County has already approved. The County now has the means to do it. It's time to prioritize the lives and safety of Boulder County residents by fully funding the expansion of the Boulder Rifle Club.
There are also 3 other Front Range Counties (Larimer, Gilpin, & Clear Creek) working with the US Forest Service, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to create recreational sport shooting ranges within their counties as part of the Sports Shooting Partnership: https://www.sportshootingpartners.org/resources/ Until these ranges are opened people will continue to use National Forest System Land to practice shooting with very little oversight, or safety measures in place. As our neighboring Counties open their public shooting ranges the National Forest Lands within their County boundaries will be permanently closed to recreational sport shooting, whether or not Boulder County gets their shooting range constructed within the same timeframe. Opening this public shooting range in Boulder County, adjacent to the private one that already exists here, is a step forward toward more oversight and safety.
Links to maps showing the USFS sport shooting closures once the Boulder Rifle Club expansion is complete:
Here is the overall map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/101606_FSPLT3_4656172.pdf
Here is an interactive map: https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTools/index.html?appid=686de900600743db9e54b167fa7bf40f
We have the opportunity in Boulder County to be a trailblazer for the rest of the country in closing recreational sport shooting on public land while offering a safe alternative. After years of discussions and collaboration the USFS passed a Forest Plan Amendment to close just under 80,000 acres of federal land in Boulder County to recreational sport shooting, on the condition that the County opened a new public shooting range to safely accommodate sport shooting. Last year Boulder County finally approved an expansion to the BRC after years of searching for a location. All the hard work has been done. The only thing left now is to fund the project Boulder County has already approved. The County now has the means to do it. It's time to prioritize the lives and safety of Boulder County residents by fully funding the expansion of the Boulder Rifle Club.