Bureau of Land Management Plans Shooting Restriction Outside Helena, Montana

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to close 640 acres of public land to target shooting (but not hunting) in the North Hills recreation area located about 6 miles northeast of Helena.  The remaining 4,000+ acres would remain open to target shooting.   The BLM is hosting a meeting Tuesday, June 16 at 6:30pm at the conference room of the Montana Association of Counties building, 2715 Skyway Drive in Helena. 

The proposal to close these acres came from a working group established by BLM's Western Montana Resource Advisory Council based on complaints that target shooting was taking place too close to a road and without a safe line of fire.  The environmental assessment that has been written on this proposed closure can be seen by clicking here.

For all those who recreationally shoot on BLM lands, and especially those of you who shoot in the proposed closure area, your attendance to this meeting will be important in determining how BLM intends to secure the future of target shooting in the wake of increased development and competition with other recreational uses.  So please plan on attending the meeting to make your opposition known.