The U.S. Forest Service has announced major changes to recreational shooting in one of the Front Range’s most popular national forests.

Supervisor Ryan Nehl recently finalized a plan several years in the making to address what land managers have called “unsustainable” gunfire across Pike National Forest, encompassing El Paso, Teller, Douglas and Park counties. The Integrated Management of Target Shooting Project has sought to address “unacceptable risks to public safety,” the Forest Service explained in previously releasing a draft decision for public review.

Now the decision is final: 73% of Pike National Forest’s 1.1 million acres will be closed to shooting, while six ranges complete with targets, lanes and “noise abatement features” will be developed.

The dispersed shooting closure goes for the entirety of Pikes Peak Ranger District lands around El Paso and Teller counties. Some of the 230,000-plus acres have already been under an “emergency order” closure, including off Rampart Range Road.

The decision comes at the end of a lengthy environmental review, several meetings and hundreds of letters voicing support and opposition.

The decision “marks the transition from one era of recreational shooting into the next,” wrote Douglas County Board of Commissioners Chair George Teal, concluding: “The culmination is as good an outcome as anyone could expect.”

He spoke for the Southern Shooting Partnership, a group of multiple government and utility agencies. In a news release, the group’s chair, Andy Hough, praised the decision after eight years of collaboration.

“Decisions of this magnitude regarding such a cherished American tradition are never easy,” he said, “but by working together, we came to a solution that increases public safety and protects natural resources while expanding opportunities for recreational shooting.”

Target shooting is a historic, legal activity on Forest Service lands. But with the rise of shooters, hikers, cyclists, off-roaders and homes around Pike National Forest, the agency has noted “shooting-related wildfires, injuries and at least one verified fatality, rising numbers of user conflicts and growing levels of resource damage.”

A 158-page environmental assessment identified shooting bans in areas too close to “highly used recreation areas,” private properties, roads, waterways, historic sites and utility infrastructure. The plan calls for acreage to be closed in phases, after shooting ranges are built — two each in the Pikes Peak, South Platte and South Park ranger districts.

In the Pikes Peak Ranger District, one range is identified for the area known as Turkey Tracks north of Woodland Park, long popular for shooters driving in off Colorado 67. Pending a land acquisition, another range is identified off Gold Camp Road.

Turkey Tracks has been of particular debate. Sloping backstops and accessibility lended to its selection for a developed range, but nearby residents continue to object over stray bullets, noise, trash and regularly sparked fires.

Shooting off Rampart Range Road was previously closed, Russell Zittlosen noted in a letter to the Forest Service. “Turkey Tracks is much closer to residents and in a higher fire risk zone. The question is begged, why is supervision not required?”

Supervision is possible under the “adaptive management” strategy of the plan. Some critics have called for it, fearing crowds and “a funnel effect” caused by closures across Pike National Forest. That’s while others have questioned the Forest Service’s ability to enforce the closures. 

Gregg Sutherland questioned the legality: The ban over 73% of the forest “is a bridge too far,” he wrote to the Forest Service. His opinion was echoed by attorneys for Mountain States Legal Foundation’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms.

“Simply put, the proposed actions are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment,” the attorneys wrote.

The Forest Service previously responded to comments claiming an infringement: “The proposed action and alternatives do not infringe on an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, rather it delineates how target shooting will be managed on the Pike National Forest …”

Nell, the supervisor overseeing the forest, in a news release recognized “balancing multiple uses on Forest Service lands poses unique challenges and opportunities.” Years of public feedback “helped guide this outcome,” he said. “We hope that continued interest will lead to a successful implementation.”

Implementation is expected to take “several years,” the news release indicated.