Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- The state recently publicized new laws that ban most shooting along miles of the Knik River including Jim Creek, where the sound of gunfire is sometimes nearly as common as nice bright silvers.

Given the popularity of shooting in the area, the calls started right away: So where can we shoot

State officials say they are working on two small shooting ranges but people shouldn't expect anything immediate or any big-time complexes like those at Rabbit Creek or Birchwood.

"No, nothing like that," said Dave Griffin, the state land manager working on the ranges. "This is not a shooting complex."

There's also no definitive date when the ranges will open.

Griffin said he first needs to hunt down nearly $40,000 to build the ranges. The state has about $3,000 to spend. He's asking for help from private organizations, including Friends of NRA -- the National Rifle Association -- and local sportsman's clubs.

This summer would be the soonest ranges could be running, Griffin said. He hopes to establish cooperative management agreements with local groups whose members could help clean up the areas and provide a presence there.

One site sits inside the area, about four miles up the unpaved Maud Road Extension, before Jim Lake. The other, near Jim Creek, isn't road accessible right now. Both sit on about five acres.

They will be built to National Rifle Association specifications, with dirt berms framing the back and sides, Griffin said. The Maud site has a mountain as a backstop, he said, and the Jim Creek area is in an undeveloped cottonwood stand.

The laws surfaced during public meetings this month on a set of new regulations governing the 260,000-acre Knik River Public Use Area. Meetings in the Mat-Su and Anchorage drew about 100 people.

While the state has banned most shooting in a strip along the Knik, hunting is still allowed.

The Alaska Outdoor Council pushed for small-scale shooting ranges -- nothing fancy, just a bench with some cover and targets at 300 yards -- during the public-use area development process, said executive director Rod Arno.

The council is a federation of outdoors clubs and is the state arm of the National Rifle Association. The council has about 10,000 members. A third live in the Mat-Su.

"As many hunters as we have here in the Valley, we've never had a range," Arno said. "One of the driving forces for creation was to get away from all of the dangerous shooting that was occurring."

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