(AZ) Construction of shooting range near Flagstaff halted by lawsuit

[Drizzt]

The Associated Press State & Local Wire

February 27, 2003, Thursday, BC cycle

9:31 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 372 words

HEADLINE: Construction of shooting range near Flagstaff halted by lawsuit

DATELINE: FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.

BODY:
Construction of a shooting range near Flagstaff has been halted by a legal action brought by a group of Flagstaff-area residents.

For the Arizona Game and Fish Department to build the proposed $8 million Bellemont Shooting Facility, it must complete a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service.

But no transfer of deeds or building at the site will be allowed until a lawsuit filed by a group of Flagstaff-area residents is heard in May, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

A spokeswoman for the group who filed the lawsuit said they consider the halting of range construction to be good news.

"We don't know when this will happen, but it could be May until we know what the judge will rule," said Celia Barotz, spokeswoman for Citizens to Relocate the Range. "Its basically great news for us."

Game and Fish officials broke ground at the site three months ago and planned to open archery, pistol and rifle shooting ranges by August.

The lawsuit demands a yearlong study on the environmental impact of the range. Among the concerns of site neighbors is the possibility that the range could cause noise disturbances.

But Duane Shroufe, director of the Arizona Department of Game and Fish, said concerns about noise generated at the facility are groundless. The Bellemont facility meets and exceeds legal sound standards for all shooting facilities in Arizona, he said.

"We believe the residents of northern Arizona should welcome the range," he said.

The Forest Service, represented by the U.S. Attorneys Office, reached an agreement with the citizen's group Feb. 18 in Phoenix to halt the land exchange.

The Forest Service was planning to swap the 770-acre site, located near I-40 west of Flagstaff, for Game and Fish holdings near Flagstaff and in the Kaibab National Forest.

The agency declined to comment on the issue because of the current litigation.

The Forest Service began work on the project eight years ago and consulted with local authorities, residents and tribes through a public scoping process. The government conducted an environmental evaluation and issued a permit for the facility in 2001 after satisfying questions about noise, safety and lead contamination.

 

[Jeeper]

THis is so ridiculous since everyone in flagstaff goes out to the cinder pits to shoot now. They are basically unregulated trash dumps. The location of this range is far from anyone. Leave it to a bunch of ninnues to stop a good idea

 

[Sir Galahad]

The problem is that we have a lot of liberal big city transplants living in this region. These idiots knew about this range for seven years and just NOW picked the time to raise their "concerns". Now that work has started. They talk about "environmental concerns". You mean like the leaking rocket motors stored at Camp Navajo Army Depot out there? Or the tons of assorted other ordnance no one really knows what it is? Noise? You mean like the Santa Fe Railroad TWO main line routes that pass right through there with something like one train every fifteen to thirty minutes? You mean like I-40 that runs through there? These people have known about this for YEARS and waited until now to complain. They got notice after notice and never said boo until now.

Meanwhile, Flagstaff PD and Coconino County Sheriff has to practice at the cinder pits. That's right. There is no range for local law enforcement. Nice to know they think so much of their cops, isn't it? You go out to thse cinder pits and some days, you turn right around and go home without firing a shot because of the unsafe BS going on. You also never walk around out there without a loaded sidearm and extra mags/speed loaders on you at all times.

Sorry to "stereotype", but the people whining about the Bellemont range are the animal rights/organic food eating/enviro-wacko crowd. They'll be opposed to a range ANYWHERE. They'd lobby to have the cinder pits closed to shooting if they knew where half of them are. The county is also considering a ban on ATV use even on your own property. Because the Sierra Club is whining about ATVs tearing up the land. So, ranchers and horse owners shouldn't be allowed to take hay out to their stock with ATVs on their own property.

You know, I moved here for freedom. But I'm heartily sick of big city liberals importing their BS laws and ideas into this fine state. I wish they'd stay the hell in their own sh*thole of a state and leave this one alone.