Shooting Range Owners Invited To Discuss Environmental Stewardship

Tom Harvey, 512-389-4453, tom.harvey@tpwd.texas.gov

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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Shooting ranges present the opportunity to preserve land for future generations. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department hunter education and target range grant program staff have arranged for a free ’Best Management Practices for Shooting Ranges’ seminar at the Grand Prairie Gun Club to help guide range operators, owners and partners about how to create an environmental stewardship plan.

Rick Patterson, executive director of the National Association of Shooting Ranges, will lead the seminar, which takes place April 21 from 1:30- 4:30 p.m. Range operators who are interested should register for one of 40 spaces by April 12, and a few spaces at the seminar are available on a first-come, first-served basis for others who are interested in the topic.

One environmental problem shooting ranges face is lead contamination. The National Association of Shooting Ranges has developed the "how-to" manual for lead management and environmental stewardship; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has published a similar resource. This seminar will discuss this important issue and provide information needed to develop an effective Environmental Stewardship Plan.

Seminar sponsors include the National Association of Shooting Ranges, the Grand Prairie Gun Club and the Dallas Arms Collector’s Association. The gun club has also received help from TPWD’s Target Range grant program in 1993 and 2001. TPWD granted $130,000 to help building and range improvement projects.

The grant program was established in 1981 through the State Appropriations Act. A portion of the 11 percent excise tax from handgun and archery equipment sales goes toward the program, which funds shooting range needs such as hunter education facilities.

For more information or to register for the seminar, contact Steve Hall at steve.hall@tpwd.texas.gov or (512) 389-4568.