DENVER - Colorado Parks and Wildlife announces more than $440,000 in shooting and archery range grants to 14 ranges across Colorado. The grants help develop new ranges, upgrade existing ones, greatly expanded recreational shooting opportunities, and open up new facilities for youth education and shooting competitions.
Among the awardees announced by CPW's Director, Bob Broscheid, are projects to start the design and engineering of a new range on Forest Service land near Idaho Springs, continued development of a major range close to Sterling, and expansion of the Conejos County Shooting Range, near Alamosa, to include an archery facility.
"Colorado's Shooting Range Grant Program is one of the largest in the country" said Broscheid. "Almost every range awarded funding has a major youth education component to it, which is an important priority for CPW. Our safe range program represents a significant investment of agency resources into the future of recreational shooting, education and hunting in the state."
Partners in the projects include local gun clubs, county and town governments, private landowners, and federal agencies. Overall, local funding and volunteer work from project partners leverages CPW funds and covers approximately 35% of project costs.
CPW's Northeast Region Manager, Steve Yamashita, emphasized that "starting work at the Devil's Nose site near Idaho Springs is a major step forward to address conflicts and safety concerns on public lands near the Denver metro area and the Front Range. We need more sites like Devil's Nose, a safe and organized option for recreational shooters.
Shooting Range Grant Program Coordinator at CPW, Jim Guthrie, noted that the projects awarded funding this year expand shooting opportunities in several ways.
"New ranges are obviously what get the most attention," said Guthrie. "But that's not the only way projects build range capacity in the state. The Grand Junction Trap Club project, for example, will realign its trap fields to allow more usage, and the Rio Grande Shooting Range project will rebuild berms so the handgun and rifle ranges can be used safely at the same time."
Since 2009, the Shooting Range Grant Program has awarded more than $2.8 million to nearly 70 ranges across Colorado. Combined with local matching funds, that represents more than $4 million invested in shooting range over that time.
Funding for the competitive grant program comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Hunter Education and Wildlife Restoration Programs, and from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's hunting and fishing license revenue. The program helps pay for berms, backstops, fencing, shooting benches and covers for firing lines, and other range components.
2015 Shooting Range Grants Funding Awards
Columbine Bowmen, Salida, archery targets, storage shed - $12,500
Conejos County Shooting RangeNew archery range - $28,400
Devils Nose – Clear Creek CountyPlanning, design, access road for new range - $30,000
Gold Camp Shooting Range, Teller County, cover for 100-yard range firing line - $35,000
Grand Junction Trap Club, realign three trap/skeet fields - $60,000
Julesburg Shooting Range - new berms, shooting benches, shade shelters - $7,100
Lake County Shooting Range, Leadville - shooting benches, shelters, parking, access road - $38,000
Logan County Shooting Range, Sterling - new rifle, handgun, archery ranges, trap field - $72,500
Montrose Rod and Gun Club, electrical upgrades - $25,000
Pikes Peak Gun Club, Colorado Springs, vault toilet - $34,500
Rio Grande Shooting Range, targets, stands, berms - $31,000
Sangre Shooting Sports Club, Westcliffe, electrical upgrades - $34,200
SOAR, Dotsero, two new shooting lanes and backstops, shade shelter - $20,000
Stengel Range, Hotchkiss, vault toilet - $15,000
CPW is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 42 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.
Contact Name: Manda Walters 303-866-3203 X4608
