Outdoor shooting range proposed in Stutsman County

Mar. 8—JAMESTOWN — A North Dakota Game and Fish Department official proposed a site for an outdoor shooting range south of Stutsman County Road 42 just east of Jamestown Reservoir to the Stutsman County Park Board on Tuesday, March 8.

Stutsman County Commission Chair Mark Klose said the idea of getting a gun range is in the very preliminary stages.

The proposed site is about 15 miles northwest of Jamestown.

It can take several years for a gun range to come to fruition, said Marty Egeland, education section supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. He said an environmental assessment takes a year to complete and work on the range would have to be done within budget.

The Game and Fish Department would be looking at a potential land lease agreement with the county for about 10 acres of land at the proposed site. Egeland said it could be less than 10 acres.

Egeland said there is a farm that is more than a half a mile northeast of the proposed site and the property owner is against the proposed site of the gun range. He said the targets would be in the complete opposite direction from the closest farm.

"They would have to totally turn around ... to do that," he said, referring to individuals shooting toward the closest farm.

Klose asked about the safety of livestock and if there would be any consideration for those animals near the gun range site.

Egeland said livestock could get hit if the bullet left the range but it would "very rare" for that to happen. He said there have been no incidences of a stray bullet hitting any livestock in other places where the Game and Fish Department manages ranges.

A gun range at Pipestem Reservoir was shut down in 2013 due to stray bullets, said Bob Martin, member of the Stutsman County Park Board. He said an indoor range would prevent the problem of stray bullets.

The Jamestown Marksmanship Education Range Board has previously tried to find a location for an outdoor range but the idea got shut down several times, said Keith Domke, president of the organization. He said the organization decided to concentrate its efforts on an indoor shooting range but supports the idea of an outdoor range.

Egeland said he supports an indoor range.

"I think there's probably a place for both ranges," he said.

He said the benefit of an indoor range is it can be used year-round. He said drawbacks to an indoor range include the expense to open and operate it and having limited hours.

He said it is better to have a range where it's a safe place for individuals to shoot guns. Martin agreed because people will find somewhere else to shoot their guns.

Commissioner Steve Cichos said his only concern about a gun range is vandalism. He said the Stutsman County Sheriff's Office doesn't have the time to monitor the gun range to prevent vandalism.

Egeland said the gun range won't have anything other than dirt backstops and concrete shooting benches. He said installation of surveillance cameras would be the responsibility of who is managing the gun range.

Egeland said who is responsible for liability if something happens at the gun range depends on who it belongs to.

"If you guys wanted to open up a range and run it on your behalf of the county, then that would be your responsibility," Egeland said.

County Commissioner Jerry Bergquist said it would be in the county's best interest to let the state own it. Bergquist said a public hearing process would need to be held to make sure there is support for the gun range.

The next step is to figure out who would have ownership of the outdoor shooting range and to get a land lease agreement with the county. Discussions will need to be held with Buchanan Township officials about getting the correct zoning for the proposed site.

Klose said if the land is unzoned by the township, then Stutsman County ordinance takes precedence.

After a land lease agreement is completed, Egeland said engineers will need to be hired to complete an environmental assessment of the site.

"Before we are going to want to invest a lot of money into it, we are going to want to make sure that we have a place to put it," he said.