Feds asked to reconsider shooting range decision

Wednesday, March 2, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

As expected, the Clark County Commission asked a federal panel to reconsider its decision to omit a planned shooting range from the priority list of projects slated to receive funds from Bureau of Land Management sales.

The county requested $33.6 million for the shooting range in the north part of the Las Vegas Valley, but a review panel of federal and local government officials ranked the project 37 out of 96 proposals. The recommendations ultimately would go to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who is charged with determining how money garnered from the sales of federal land in Clark County is spent.

Under a 1998 law, 85 percent of proceeds from the BLM auctions go to environmental or recreation projects in Nevada. County leaders have supported the planned 2,800-acre shooting range for years, and it had been slated to open in 2007.

The $60 million project, which has already received $15 million in funding, would be a "one-of-a-kind shooting facility," would reduce off-road driving and resulting dust pollution from shooters seeking a place to fire their weapons, and would reduce the amount of lead from slugs released in the environment, Assistant County Manager Virginia Valentine said.

While one panel gave the planned shooting park short shrift, two more panels review the spending recommendations before the final recommendations go to Secretary Norton.