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Shooting range may stay
BLM reviewing different options for east Highland
By MATT BENDER - SB Sun Staff Writer
Sunday, July 25, 2004 - HIGHLAND - A shooting range that irks some east Highland residents may be staying put.
The federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the site, is studying a plan that would keep the shooting range but require measures to reduce the noise. The Inland Fish Game Conservation Association is seeking a 20-year lease for the site, which it has used since 1945.
Over the years, east Highland has evolved from citrus groves to tract homes, and conflicts with residents have increased. Some complain their nerves are rattled by gunfire that's loud enough to be heard even when their doors and windows are closed, and that it's even harder to enjoy their back yards when shooting is going on. "At first, I did not hear the shooting range very much, but as time went by, I heard it more and more,' said Harry Spencer, a retiree who moved into East Highlands Ranch about 10 years ago. He said he'd like to see if a better place could be found for the range and the noise could be reduced.
Members contend the club is a benefit to the community. Shotguns are allowed and the range is open to the public. A shooting range discourages people from going into the forest and shooting illegally, they argue. Many parents take their children on weekends and teach them how to shoot, said Redlands resident Don Campfield, who says he's been shooting there for about 50 years. He says neighbors who oppose renewing the lease are like people who move next to an airport, then complain about the noise. "If they don't like the range, the range was here before they moved in,' he said.
The BLM is studying a plan under which the club would be required to install measures to dampen the noise, although it doesn't specify exactly what they would look like. "Were we to adopt those mitigation measures in the final decision, we would require the club to ... come in with designs that would meet those objectives,' said John Kalish, lands, minerals and recreation supervisor in the BLM's Palm Springs office. "That technology has advanced quite a lot over the years.' The plan would also require the shotgun range to open at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays instead of 8 a.m.
The BLM also is studying alternatives, including the club's request, which is similar but involves no new sound barriers and no reduction in hours, and an alternative that would grant only a five-year lease and require shorter hours. It is also studying the possibility of not renewing the lease, which would force the club to stop shooting there and remove all the buildings from the site.
BLM reviewing different options for east Highland
By MATT BENDER - SB Sun Staff Writer
Sunday, July 25, 2004 - HIGHLAND - A shooting range that irks some east Highland residents may be staying put.
The federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the site, is studying a plan that would keep the shooting range but require measures to reduce the noise. The Inland Fish Game Conservation Association is seeking a 20-year lease for the site, which it has used since 1945.
Over the years, east Highland has evolved from citrus groves to tract homes, and conflicts with residents have increased. Some complain their nerves are rattled by gunfire that's loud enough to be heard even when their doors and windows are closed, and that it's even harder to enjoy their back yards when shooting is going on. "At first, I did not hear the shooting range very much, but as time went by, I heard it more and more,' said Harry Spencer, a retiree who moved into East Highlands Ranch about 10 years ago. He said he'd like to see if a better place could be found for the range and the noise could be reduced.
Members contend the club is a benefit to the community. Shotguns are allowed and the range is open to the public. A shooting range discourages people from going into the forest and shooting illegally, they argue. Many parents take their children on weekends and teach them how to shoot, said Redlands resident Don Campfield, who says he's been shooting there for about 50 years. He says neighbors who oppose renewing the lease are like people who move next to an airport, then complain about the noise. "If they don't like the range, the range was here before they moved in,' he said.
The BLM is studying a plan under which the club would be required to install measures to dampen the noise, although it doesn't specify exactly what they would look like. "Were we to adopt those mitigation measures in the final decision, we would require the club to ... come in with designs that would meet those objectives,' said John Kalish, lands, minerals and recreation supervisor in the BLM's Palm Springs office. "That technology has advanced quite a lot over the years.' The plan would also require the shotgun range to open at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays instead of 8 a.m.
The BLM also is studying alternatives, including the club's request, which is similar but involves no new sound barriers and no reduction in hours, and an alternative that would grant only a five-year lease and require shorter hours. It is also studying the possibility of not renewing the lease, which would force the club to stop shooting there and remove all the buildings from the site.
