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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is currently in the development phase of a new shooting range in Shelby County following recent land acquisitions.

Earlier this year, the ADCNR completed the purchase of an additional 1,842 acres of land on Highway 25 just outside of Columbiana that added to the 195 acres already owned by the department in the area.

Now in its design stage, the department’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division is leading efforts to bring the new state of the art facility online. Once opened, the facility will complement the 12 existing shooting ranges currently operated by the ADCNR.

“All of the environmental impact studies and cultural resource studies have been approved, and the money from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been approved,” Michael Bloxom, WFF’s hunter education coordinator said. “We have an engineering firm doing a topographic study to determine the best layout for our ranges.”

The current plans for the facility, which are subject to change, currently call for a 300-yard rifle range, a 100-yard rifle range and both a 50 and 25-yard pistol range. Designs also include shotgun ranges for trap, skeet and five-stand shooting activities.

The facility will also feature an archery range which will be among the first of the ranges open for use.

Buildings on the property will also be redone to accommodate classroom style environments that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Those classrooms will be used to provide members of the community with hunter education, safety and shooting classes. The department is also currently in the midst of a traffic study to investigate potential improvements to property access.

According to Bloxom, the department’s budget will allow for the firing ranges to feature state-of-the-art electronic targets that will be comparable with the nation’s highest-end ranges.

“That means with the 300-yard rifle range, you won’t have to go downrange to change paper targets,” Bloxom said. “You will have a computer screen at your bench that will show where your shots are landing in real time.”

This investment is not merely meant to accommodate those in the local area either, as the ADCNR is aiming for their facility to have broad regional and national appeal.

“We’re looking at drawing people from all over the country to our range,” Bloxom said. “It’s going to be a great asset for the community and the state but also attract attention nationwide with the quality of the facilities. It will open up economic opportunities outside of the Department of Conservation itself. The range will also provide a number of employment opportunities for those in the area as well, making this a very community involved resource.”

The ADCNR has also stipulated that some of the acreage featured in their acquisitions will be utilized to create safety buffer zones between the ranges and occupied areas. It is also expected that, once completed, the new ranges will help lessen crowding and capacity issues that have plagued the Cahaba Wildlife Management Area’s shooting range for some time.

Funding for the land purchase and range development has been made possible by legislative changes and a marked increase in firearm and ammo purchases of the past few years.

“A change in the way the United States Fish and Wildlife Service apportions funds from the excise tax on firearms and ammunition from the Pittman-Robertson Act is one of the reasons for the significant budget allotted for the Shelby range,” said David Rainer with ADCNR.

In the past, hunters were the primary source of funding for projects like the Shelby County range, however non-hunters who enjoy shooting sports are now becoming a larger portion of the public purchasing guns and ammunition—and paying the 11 percent excise tax along with them. This is coupled with the fact that federal money can also be used for up to 90 percent of the cost of target range construction or expansion thanks to the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act.

With ADCNR able to cover its 10 percent of the cost for the construction of the range, construction and redevelopment of the facility is expected to take a total of two years before it is opened to the public in any capacity.