Improvements continue at 27¼ Road shooting range

GRAND JUNCTION— Final touches are being made on significant upgrades intended to improve user enjoyment and safety at the 27¼ Road shooting range, located north of Grand Junction on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Project partners include the Colorado Division of Wildlife, contributing $1,000 in Pittman-Robertson Act funding; BLM, contributing equipment and supplies; donations, discounts and support from local vendors; and extensive volunteer labor.

“Donations include everything from a professional survey by Bill Bryan with a local engineering company to donations of steel by Wagner Engineering, Sorter Construction, and Wagner Rents,” said BLM Supervisory Outdoor Recreation Planner Britta Laub. “Bonner Supply offered deep discounts on the purchase of steel, Preston Mease and Colorado West Contracting donated the use of heavy equipment, Bill Long provided a truck-mounted welder and fabricator, and Distinctive Decking, Inc. constructed and installed a rifle rack at wholesale material cost.”

Linda Edwards, volunteer coordinator for DOW, has worked alongside John Evans, a retired BLM employee and volunteer spearheading the project, who has coordinated BLM volunteer efforts on the project. Evans also works at keeping the site free of discarded and shot-up refrigerators, microwaves and computers frequently found at the range and is effectively educating the area’s users on proper use of public lands.

Improvements at the 200-ft. covered facility include nine shooting stations, 18 rifle racks, range markers at 1000 meters, and steel “gongs” or reactive targets. The range is open to the public and shooters are responsible for their own safety. No range officer is present.

Project completion is slated for Thursday, March 17, and volunteers will be on site from 9 a.m. to noon that day. For more information, contact Britta Laub at (970) 244-3031 or John Evans at (970) 245-0529.

-BLM-