| Contacts: | Erin Curtis, BLM, 970-244-3097 |
27 1/4 Road Shooting Range Closed for Maintenance Wednesday, Volunteers Needed
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Volunteers will be performing maintenance on the 27¼ Road recreational shooting range managed by the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office. The clean-up and maintenance will occur from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, July 22. During this time, the shooting range and the desert area surrounding the range will be closed to all firearm use. Additional volunteers are needed to assist with clean-up, painting, and installation of signs. The shooting range is located on a well-marked route approximately six miles north of H Road, on north 27¼ Road.
Volunteers should register in advance for planning purposes. Sign-up online at http://voutdoors.org. Volunteers should bring a sack lunch, drinking water, and a pair of work gloves, and dress appropriately for the weather.
The range consists of a pistol emphasis area and a 1,000-meter rifle range, which has 12 sheltered shooting benches. The range is generally open every day to the public without charge, from sunrise to dusk, except when being maintained or used for special events or firearms training. Popular with local recreational target shooters, as well as hunters sighting-in their rifles prior to hunting season, the range had approximately 13,000 visitors from April 2007 to December 2007.
A dedicated group of local volunteers donate hundreds of hours annually at the range, installing and maintaining range signs and targets and picking up illegally dumped trash. Much of the materials used for range improvements are made possible through donations by local businesses and contributions from the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW). For more information, contact volunteer coordinators Chris Pipkin (BLM), at (970) 244-3024 or Linda Edwards (DOW), at (970) 255-6145.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
2815 H Rd Grand Junction, CO 81506