Ignored: target shooters at local illegal shooting areas

 

Last updated 7/7/2021 at 7:41am



Local popular target-shooting spots are technically illegal because of federal laws, but state agencies say they are unable to enforce federal laws. 

A Star article June 16 examined the legality of a popular shooting range at Osborn Bay where a wildfire took place last month. 

The fire didn’t start at the main shooting range, as “Wildfire brings scrutiny of illegal shooting range” had reported, but at a former shooting area located roughly a quarter to half a mile south of the main shooting range, according to Electric City Fire Chief Mark Payne. Payne said the fire likely wouldn’t have happened if the shooter had used the main range, which he hadn’t because of campers nearby.

Either way, that area is on U.S. Bureau of Reclamation land. As reported, citing officials from these agencies, target shooting on Bureau land is illegal. And while the Department of Fish and Wildlife can enforce state laws in the area, it would need to forward violations of federal law, such as the Bureau’s shooting laws, to a federal agency, resulting in low chances of prosecution.

Hunting on the lands is allowed while following all other applicable laws.

The story prompted public comment.

“Does someone have to get shot before the authorities do something?” asked Shelly Stine on The Star’s Facebook page. “Why not establish a nice (shooting range) somewhere where people can pay dues for some rifle and pistol ranges with shooting stands? Other communities have private shooting clubs that are safe and monitored.”

Another popular ad hoc shooting range locally is in the Washington Flats Wildlife Area past the north end of Columbia Avenue. 

The Star asked the USBR to explain the legality of target shooting in these areas. 

“Let me start by saying, safety is Reclamation’s top priority,” said USBR Public Affairs Specialist Erika Lopez. “It’s important to know firing guns in these extremely high temperatures and dry conditions is dangerous. Being aware of the potential dangers can help minimize the risk for wildfire.”

The Washington Flats area is managed by Grand Coulee Dam Power Office, she explained. “Reclamation prohibits any public shooting ranges on Reclamation lands. Local residents will infrequently use the rock quarry at Washington Flats for target practice. It is not and never has been an official Reclamation shooting range.”

“Target shooting on Reclamation land is generally illegal pursuant to Reclamation’s regulations,” Lopez continued. “Exceptions to this restriction would be a formally approved/permitted activity, such as lawful pursuit of huntable wildlife where there isn’t a closure in effect or for training purposes for its law enforcement officers. In light of the current drought conditions and high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest, it is unlikely any approved activity at the firing range would be granted.”

Another area sometimes used for shooting is at the end of Marina Way area behind the Grand Coulee Dam on the Colville reservation side. That area is under tribal authority “under the Lake Roosevelt Cooperative Management Agreement,” Lopez noted.

The bureau does maintain its own shooting range near the sandhill in Coulee Dam “for authorized personnel only,” which Lopez said would never be opened to the public as an official public shooting range, nor would anywhere on bureau land.

So, if it’s illegal to target shoot on USBR land, why do people continue to shoot on it?

“The Bureau of Reclamation relies almost exclusively on local law enforcement to police its lands and infrastructure,” Lopez said. “Almost all of Reclamation’s lands are proprietary jurisdiction, which means state and local law enforcement organizations can police Reclamation lands just as they would any other lands within their jurisdiction.”

But according to Captain Mike Jewell of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Program for the North Central Region, state agencies can only enforce state laws.

Although they can investigate violations of federal law, those cases must be forwarded to federal authorities for prosecution, Jewell explained, noting that target shooting violations may not be a high priority for federal courts.

“It’s accurate to say (target shooting) is illegal there,” he said about Osborn Bay. “People do it anyway. It’s just one of those grey areas of if there will be consequences if they violate that law.”

People knowing the laws is another factor in the situation.

“It is difficult to enforce due to the broad area across which Reclamation lands are located and the sometimes-irregular occurrence of target shooting,” USBR Public Affairs Specialist Jesselyn O. Hamilton told The Star. “The local field office is evaluating strategies to ensure more broad awareness of these regulations and enforce this rule where necessary, but it depends on Federal land users knowing the rules of the area where they are recreating.”

Confusing matters more, local law enforcement sometimes tells people it’s OK to shoot there.

Grand Coulee Police on Saturday evening received reports of people shooting at the gravel pit at Osborn Bay. The initial report came from Alex Tufts, son of police Chief John Tufts.

At the gravel pit, an officer spoke to a group of six men in their 20s shooting guns at the gravel pit. Police told them it was fine to shoot their guns there, but not to light off fireworks or explosives, which a nearby camper had reported. 

Osborn Bay is in Electric City, which is policed by the Grand Coulee Police Department. Electric City doesn’t forbid target shooting, but less restrictive city law doesn’t supersede federal law.

The officer then responded to Pearl Avenue, where someone else had reported hearing loud explosions and guns being fired at Osborn Bay. The officer again said people were allowed to shoot guns at the gravel pit.

“This is the kind of shooting that will cause us all to lose our local target practice area,” reader Dorothy Stiegelmeyer emailed The Star at the same time. “15 to 20 shots at a time, really loud echoes.”

She has previously noted that people “night shoot” there and have for a long time. “The automatic weapons seem to go on forever sometimes.”

Target shooting restrictions had also been placed on the area July 1 by the Bureau of Land Management’s Spokane District, which manages wildland fire fighting by contract for Reclamation.

 

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