Conservation Groups, State & Federal Agencies Agree To Support Front Range Recreational Shooting

Posted on: 8/10/2007 From: Jim Hamilton

Nearly 20 different organizations and agencies signed an agreement recently pledging to work together to provide recreational shooting opportunities along Colorado's Front Range.

The U. S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Wildlife Federation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), Colorado State Parks, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports Program are just some of the organizations that agreed to work together in order to provide safe and sustainable recreational shooting opportunities.

"It is great to see such a diverse group of organizations come together in an effort to provide opportunities that the public is requesting," said Glenn Casamassa, forest supervisor for the Arapaho, Roosevelt National Forests and the Pawnee National Grassland for the U.S. Forest Service. "We are all working toward a single goal and now we need ideas and we need to take action."

The objectives of this partnership are to:

- identify and assess potentially appropriate federal, state and private locations for safe shooting range areas that are environmentally and economically self-sustaining.
- develop local partnerships to construct, improve and manage a wide range of sport shooting opportunities.
- establish on-going communication, education and ethics programs on safe and environmentally sound sport shooting opportunities for all ages.

Pictured are (L to R) Senator Lois Tochtrop and Jeff Goodwin, Director of Colorado State University Extension 4-H Youth Development Program.

The purpose of this agreement is to develop and expand a framework of cooperation among federal, state and local partners for enhancing shooting sports opportunities in a safe and environmentally sound manner along the Front Range of Colorado.