Federal, state and local backcountry management agencies in seven Colorado counties have started to close off 94,900 acres of Colorado forest to recreation sport shooting. Instead, they are funneling shooters toward a new facility built specifically for them.
The Devils Nose Target Range opened on Wednesday. It is located southwest of Idaho Springs.
A coalition of management agencies agreed five years ago to build the range before shutting down the activity in large portions of forest within range of the state’s larger populations. The 2019 Recreational Sport Shooting Management Decision cited safety issues as the reason behind the decision. It concluded that increasing numbers of hikers, climbers, snowshoers and skiers, along with increasing numbers of homeowners moving into the mountains, were vulnerable to the largely unregulated sports shooting that was permitted in the forests…