Local government officials are looking to take control of a piece of Pike National Forest that has long been a popular, controversial area for target shooting.
North of Woodland Park, across the Douglas County line off Colorado 67, the area known as Turkey Tracks was one focus of the U.S. Forest Service’s Integrated Management of Target Shooting Project — a broad, years-long effort that culminated in January with a plan drastically changing the legal, historic activity across public land near Front Range populations. The plan called for recreational shooting to be banned in 73% of Pike National Forest in phases while six ranges were developed and formalized. One is identified for Turkey Tracks.
But “progress has been delayed due to staffing and procedural challenges within the U.S. Forest Service,” read a recent update from Douglas County commissioners…