Vandalism Continues to Be Problem at WFF Shooting Ranges
By DAVID RAINER
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
It’s like when their favorite lamps get broken by reckless youngsters and moms say, “This is why we can’t have nice things.”
I don’t get riled
easily, but one photo posted recently by the Alabama Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division really kicked my blood pressure up a
notch.
Some yahoos at
one of the WFF shooting ranges vandalized items at the range to the
detriment of all who use and maintain the shooting facility.
Unfortunately, a
few bad actors could jeopardize the use of some of these facilities if
this malicious behavior continues. The facility where inconsiderate
people destroyed state property is still open. For now.
WFF Director
Chuck Sykes said the vandalism at Etowah Shooting Range that irked me so
much is only one of many examples of how destructive some people can
be.
“We installed new
concrete shooting benches at several ranges over the past couple of
years,” he said. “Within days of us installing them, several were
damaged through senseless vandalism.”
Unfortunately,
vandalism is not new, but this new destructive activity could have a
greater impact. As far as the damage done at the Etowah range, Marisa
Futral, WFF Hunter Education Coordinator, said the recent incident
indicated a growing problem.
“People can be so
inconsiderate,” she said. “People will bring computers, washing
machines or whatever to shoot. If they don’t have anything, they’ll just
shoot up the garbage cans. It’s not the first time it happened at
Etowah, but this time was really bad. Then they just leave them for
someone else to clean up.”
Futral said
another example of people being inconsiderate is when they place their
targets too close to the bench, causing their bullets to impact the
floor of the range instead of going into the earthen berm. This creates
big ruts in the floor of the range and makes maintenance a nightmare.
“At South Sandy
at Oakmulgee Wildlife Management Area, we had just put 13 new shooting
benches there,” she said. “They cost more than $900 each. We were trying
to make the facilities as nice as we could. We weren’t open a week
before someone either shot or took a sledgehammer and tore up one of the
benches. Fortunately, we did have some thoughtful users who were in the
concrete business. They volunteered to supply materials and labor to
repair the benches. That was a positive, and we wish all users would
have this attitude. That’s why we would love to staff all of our ranges –
to stop all the vandalism.
“Unfortunately, it’s the few who ruin it for the many.”
Two facilities,
the Cahaba Public Shooting Range in Shelby County and the Swan Creek
Public Shooting Range in Limestone County, had to be closed temporarily
because the users would not abide by specific social-distancing
guidelines. Another facility, the Conecuh Public Shooting Range, was
also shut down due to the temporary closure order issued for all U.S.
Forest Service recreational access areas in national forests.
“As with most
things, Alabama hunters have it really good,” said Director Sykes. “Our
Governor has been working generously with us to make sure we keep the
outdoors open. It is providing a healthy alternative for people who are
social distancing. You can be smart about it and still go to the woods
and hunt, still get on the water and fish, as long as people take this
seriously and don’t think it’s a three-week vacation, because it’s not.
We want you to get outdoors and have fun. What we do for a living is
provide those opportunities. As long as people are smart about it, we
will remain open. But we had to close two of our staffed shooting ranges
because people would not obey the guidelines set forth by (State Health
Officer) Dr. (Scott) Harris and the Governor.”
Sykes said the
staff taped off every other shooting bench at the staffed ranges to
ensure people were maintaining the proper 6-foot distancing, to no
avail.
“We told people
coming into the range that they had to follow the social-distancing
protocol or they would force us to close it,” Sykes said. “Before lunch,
people were stacking their equipment on the taped-off benches, walking
all over people. We just finally had to close it.”
Futral said the program had no other option than to close the manned shooting ranges that she and her staff oversee.
“Those ranges
were so packed,” Futral said. “Everybody was touching the same staple
gun and same benches. People weren’t maintaining the 6-foot
social-distancing recommendations. Our staff was getting exposed. We
definitely didn’t feel like we were complying with Governor Ivey’s order
not to congregate.”
The nine WFF
shooting ranges that currently remain open are Barbour WMA Shooting
Range, Coosa WMA Shooting Range, Etowah Shooting Range, Freedom Hills
WMA Shooting Range, Marengo Public Shooting Range, Sam R. Murphy WMA
Shooting Range, Skyline WMA Shooting Range, South Sandy-Oakmulgee WMA
Shooting Range and Upper Delta WMA Shooting Range. Visit www.outdooralabama.com/activities/shooting-ranges for details about the ranges.
WFF Director Sykes said people in Alabama may not realize how good they have it right now in terms of enjoying the outdoors.
Governor Kay Ivey
specifically granted Alabamians the option of enjoying outdoors
recreation during the virus restrictions, with the proper social
distancing of course, because she knows how cherished the outdoors is to
people in our state.
“A lot of states
are experiencing mandates to close public access during these
restrictions,” Sykes said. “For one example, Illinois shut down all of
its public hunting lands. If you’re an Alabama resident who drew a
non-resident turkey tag in Illinois, you’re out of luck unless you have
access to private property. I hunted in Nebraska last year, and I
received a text from their game department that said basically, thanks
for buying your turkey tags last year, but, sorry, you can’t come this
year.
Sykes said a meme floating around social media nails the hoarding hysteria that hit the nation.
“It says the
reason we have game and fish regulations is because of how some people
acted in the grocery store,” he said. “We’re trying to provide an
opportunity. People who abuse it, hurt it for everybody else. I’m not
saying there are a lot of people who do this. For the most part, the
people who use the shooting ranges and hunt and fish on the WMAs
(wildlife management areas) are upstanding citizens. They buy their
licenses. They abide by the rules and regulations. They abide by the bag
limits and fish creel limits. And it’s a pleasure to have them around.
“My daddy always
taught me there’s one in every crowd. And you know what that one is.
Those people are the ones who could possibly ruin it for everybody.”
Sykes
participated in a conference call recently with the National Forest
Service to determine if those lands could remain open during the
coronavirus outbreak.
“They don’t want
to shut down the national forests,” he said. “We are struggling
nationwide for relevancy. People are not growing up in the country. They
don’t have a high value for outdoor recreation like we do because we
grew up doing it.”
As tragic as this virus has been for many in the nation, Sykes sees an opportunity.
“Let’s make
lemonade out of lemons,” he said. “This is a terrible situation for the
country as a whole, but this is a great time for us to show people what
we do, how we do it and why we do it. We’re providing recreational
opportunities for people who would normally be going to soccer games,
going to movies or concerts and stuff like that. We’re providing them
with a safe, healthy alternative to go outside and enjoy nature. This
may be the silver lining for this.
“We’re the only game open in town right now. If people use it wisely, it may help us create a new group of users.”
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Vandals continues to cause problems at the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries shooting ranges.
WFF Photo |