State takes aim at fate of Michaux gun range
Public Opinion Online

By Jim Hook

Senior writer

The future of the Michaux State Forest Target Range is to be decided in the next couple of months.

The state is taking a close look at whether the shooting range, closed more than a year ago because of vandalism, should be re-opened.

About 30 people recently attended a public meeting at the Buchanan Valley Fire Company about the future of the range. Coming from as far away as Hanover and Carlisle, they met in small groups to offer their suggestions to the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

Most indicated they wanted a shooting range in the state forest on the mountain east of Chambersburg. Several said the current location was less than ideal:

-- Bullets pose the eventual risk of lead toxicity on land adjacent to Chambersburg's main water supply, the Long Pine Run Reservoir.

-- The noise can disturb wildlife attracted to the water and visitors who fish, canoe or kayak on the reservoir.

-- The range is secluded and therefore difficult to police.

Michaux's is the last shooting range in Pennsylvania's state forest system, according to Michaux District Forester Roy Brubaker.

Brubaker told those at the public meeting on Tuesday:

-- State forests have no clear mandate to provide shooting ranges, as they are mandated to provide trails for all-terrain vehicles.

-- Michaux does not receive a specific allocation for the shooting range. Funding for the district forest is based on miles of road, acres of timber harvest and number of maintenance buildings. "If we collect money (from shooters) we don't necessarily get the money at the district level or for sustaining the target range."

-- The target range does not demonstrate a clear public good. There is no data to back up the assumption that a target range decreases illegal target shooting. The issues about noise, convenience and energy savings are also unclear.

"We need to know what motivated you to come out tonight," Brubaker told the gathering. "I don't know if it's going to be a local decision or a Harrisburg decision."

Hunter Galen Stouffer of Fayetteville said he had his suspicions.

"It's all going to come down to the bureaucrats in Harrisburg," Stouffer said.

Stouffer said he used the range for shooting in his rifle for deer season. Without it, he's made do, albeit unlawfully. He takes his deer rifle along when he takes his grandchild squirrel hunting, and sights it in.

The target range on Birch Run Road was well-constructed and in a perfect landscape for shooting, according to Stouffer.

State forest officials chose the site in 2003 as an alternative to a proposed site opposed by neighbors. They wanted to move the existing shooting range because it was too close to Caledonia State Park and the Chambersburg water supply intake.

James Arter of Buchanan Valley said the current site is better than the previous range that was located too near Caledonia campgrounds.

"You didn't really bother anybody by shooting in the woods," he said.

"I think we need a range, but not at that location," said a man who identified himself only as a shooter and outdoorsman from Chambersburg. "You're disturbing wildlife in this sensitive area."

He said the osprey and bald eagles have returned to the reservoir since the range has been silenced. Gun fire is louder and more disturbing to wildlife than ATVs, he said.

Michaux maintenance supervisor Bill Parr has been responsible for the shooting range. He said computer monitors and television sets have been brought to the range for target practice. Armor-piercing rounds have torn up devices attempting to contain the lead down range. The latest design included a 20-inch log, sand, 3/4 inch steel and a rubber conveyor belt.

"Armor-piercing was causing the problem," Parr said. "We tried everything. We couldn't find a way to keep it up. We have some ideas."

The noise would be reduced if shooters shot through baffles, he said.

"Whatever it takes so we still have a public shooting range," Arter said. "I want a range no matter where."

It's costly for hunters to pay $100 for a membership to private clubs when they use the range just a couple of times a year to sight their firearms for hunting seasons, Brubaker said.

Arter said the atmosphere of a club can put pressure on a beginning shooter. The pressure is off at a public range.

"You can calm that boy down, and he'll shoot perfectly," Arter said.

Hunters sometimes drop their rifles and may have to recalibrate them during the season, he said. A local range is convenient.

Jack Burd of Fayetteville said he uses the range three or four times a year for sighting his rifles. He said it's not convenient to go Game Commission ranges in Dillsburg or Carlisle.

Burd and others suggested that a "friends' group" help manage the range.

Other suggestions from various groups included:

-- Set up video cameras to monitor the range.

-- Limit access with a locked gate.

-- Charge per use.

-- Make shooting permits more accessible.

-- Set hours and days to aid in enforcement efforts.

-- Move the range to a location closer to the highway where it will receive closer scrutiny.

Forestry officials have characterized misuse and vandalism of the range as "chronic."

"If there's vandalism, you have to close it," said Donald Lehigh, a hunter and shooter from Hanover. "I'd like to see a range somewhere."

Jim Hook can be reached at 717-262-4759 and jhook@publicopinionnews.com.

The Michaux District Forest is accepting written comments about the shooting range through Nov. 15. Comments will be summarized in a follow-up report.

Send letters to: Bureau of Forestry, Forest District 1, 10099 Lincoln Way, East Fayetteville, Pa. 17222-9609. Send email to: Fd01@pa.gov

For more information visit http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry...haux/index.htm. The site has copies of a task force's report on the shooting range and a study of the lead issue.

An estimated 4,000 people had permits to shoot at the Michaux State Forest target range off Birch Run Road when it was closed in June 2010 because of vandalism.

In the 1970s the range was located off Quarry Gap Road.

Since at least 1983, the range was located at an abandoned shale pit just north of Caledonia State Park.

In 2000, forest officials responded to increasing complaints about the range by looking for a new location.

By 2003, forest officials gave up on a location between Shippensburg and Miltenberger roads because of complaints from neighboring landowners.

In 2004, district staff located the range at its current location in a borrow pit used during the construction of Long Pine Reservoir.

In 2009, some people complained about the noise at the reservoir. Maintaining the range becomes more difficult with state budget cuts.

In 2010, district staff closed the range because of littering and deferred maintenance.

Michaux staff and forest stakeholders are exploring what the next step should be for the shooting range, the last in Pennsylvania's forest system.