Colorado: Partnership for Recreational Shooting Along Front Range Holding Public Meetings

Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin and Larimer counties have formalized a partnership with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service to develop a strategy for managing recreational shooting across northern Colorado’s Front Range.

According to the release from the Northern Colorado Front Range Sports Shooting Management Partnership, it was formed to work across jurisdictional boundaries to provide safe, responsible and accessible recreational sport shooting opportunities while addressing conflicts near residential areas and with other recreation users.

The strategy is a planning tool for agencies to use in the future when making decisions about recreational shooting opportunities and potential restrictions. Decisions made after the strategy is developed, however, will follow the environmental and decision-making review process for each agency.

The Partnership is using the following preliminary criteria to identify areas that may be suitable for developed shooting sites:

1. Distance from municipalities- 1 mile
2. Distance from residential developments: subdivisions/townsites - ½ mile, single home- ¼ mile
3. Distance from developments (trails, camping, recreational areas)- ¼ mile
4. Distance from communication towers- ¼ mile
5. Slope- 10% or less (less than 4.5%, 4.6% to 7%, and 7.2% to 10%)
6. Accessibility to site- distance from various per roadway types

- Types: year around maintained, seasonal maintained, unmaintained
- Distance: within 100ft, 101ft to 500ft, and 501ft to 1000ft

Informational open houses will be held in each county in the coming weeks to update the public and share preliminary criteria to identify potential opportunities for developed shooting areas in each county.  Below is the schedule of open houses.

- Clear Creek County: July 16, 6-8 p.m., Idaho Springs City Hall, 1711 Miner Street, Idaho Springs.

- Boulder County: July 23, 6-8 p.m., Boulder County Courthouse, Commissioners’ Hearing Room, 3rd Floor, 1325 Pearl Street, Boulder.

For more information, you may contact Garry Sanfaçon, Project Coordinator, at 720-564-2642, info@SportShootingPartners.org or click here.

If you are a recreational shooter or use public lands to site in your hunting firearms, attendance at one of the open houses is critical, as is staying connected to the strategy that the Partnership is developing.  Your NRA will be doing the same.  It is yet to be determined how the preliminary criteria will expand or constrict public lands currently open to dispersed recreational shooting, or what may be in store for shooting ranges to be constructed on Federal, state and/or county property.  This is the time to find out how you may be impacted and to get your views on the public record.