| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 9:55 pm |
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Local News 
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U.S. forest officials set conditions for gun club INDEX — U.S. Forest Service officials met with a gun club president on Friday afternoon to set the rules that would allow a trap shooting range to reopen.The Index Sportsmen Club was told the club could continue using public land for the range if it meets several conditions. Those could cost the club $30,000 to $50,000. The range closed in 2004 after rangers told the club its permit had expired. A few years earlier the club had about 150 members, said Debbie Copple, club president. Forest service officials said they followed federal guidelines to put together requirements that ensure safety for locals and maintain federal environmental standards. “They haven’t cleaned this up for 60 years,” said Barbara Busse, district ranger for the Skykomish Ranger District. For instance, lead shot could pose a health risk if the metal leeches into the area’s groundwater, she said. Club members believe the conditions are a nice way of telling them to leave. “It’s easier for them than saying ‘no’ outright,” Copple said. “That’s not very P.C.” The permit will require the club to hire an environmental engineering firm to monitor lead levels in the soil and water. According to the forest service, one soil sample at the range was 7,000 percent above federal standards for lead content. Lower levels of lead were also found in the groundwater. The club would have to clean up the 7.5-acre range if the engineering firm discovers the land falls outside guidelines. “It would require equipment to access the site that scrapes the soil, removes it, sifts it, sifts out the lead, and there would be some level of restoration,” said Sean Wetterberg, a forest service project leader. The permit process began in 2007 and invited public comments. Some locals said they were concerned about noise, so the permit will only allow trap shooting during set hours on Thursdays and Sundays. Other people said lead shot was flying outside the range, possibly reaching the railroad tracks that run behind it. As a result, the permit calls on the club to monitor where shot falls. If it goes outside the range, the club will have to install a shot curtain, which could cost about $8,500. “There is the potential for shot to reach the tracks,” Busse said, “and we are bound to make sure it doesn’t.” Busse said the forest service isn’t trying to force the club off the land. She said the club is resourceful, and that it could hold fundraisers or apply for grants to defray its costs. Copple fears the conditions are out of reach but hasn’t made any final decisions. She plans to discuss the club’s options with other members and a lawyer. “I’m trying very hard just to protect this for our people,” she said, “and they’re trying very hard to make sure we don’t have it.” Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com. |
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