Posted on 07/24/2007 10:01:00 AM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Rampart Range Road ascends above Garden of the Gods into Pike National Forest, eventually reaching a stretch of mountain that appears to be strewn with confetti.
A shredded teddy bear lies on the ground.
But this is no place for kids.
It’s Rampart Range Road Shooting Range — the only public shooting range in El Paso County — littered with colorful shotgun shells, spent metal cartridges, and makeshift targets, such as the teddy bear.
The site has long been criticized as an eyesore and a safety hazard. In recent months, however, the Forest Service, which runs Rampart Range, has turned its attention to a new concern: lead.
Improperly maintained shooting ranges — where lead shot and bullets accumulate unchecked — have been known to contaminate water sources and poison wildlife, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Such pollution, however, is most commonly associated with sites close to open water or wetlands.
Rampart Range, opened in 1990, is not in such a position — but does lie above Williams Canyon, which feeds the aquifer responsible for the springs in Manitou Springs.
In June, Dave Wolverton, president of the town’s Mineral Springs Foundation, wrote a letter of concern to District Ranger Brent Botts, suggesting that lead from the shooting range could be leaching into the groundwater.
In response, Botts organized a team of scientists who began evaluating the site Friday, sampling water for testing from Williams Creek at the base of the canyon.
Botts, who oversees the southern third of Pike National Forest, said he had been struggling with problems at the shooting range for years. He had hoped to find a private management company to run the site, but liability fees scared off potential investors.
This spring, at Botts’ request, the National Rifle Association reviewed the shooting range and produced a scathing report, citing poor maintenance, an absence of supervision and overuse.
“We don’t have the money to do more than what we’re doing,” said Botts, explaining that $10,000 — one-fifth of his recreation budget, after salary expenses — is devoted to picking up refuse at Rampart Range four times a year.
Although the NRA evaluated the site shortly after one of these cleanups, it still deemed trash “a significant problem” and mentioned the issue of lead migration.
Rampart Range sits high above a complex, underground water system scientists have only recently come to understand.
Two decades ago, Manitou’s springs were commonly thought to derive from separate sources because of their different mineral compositions. But in the late 1980s, Fred Luiszer, a geologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, descended deep into Cave of the Winds and discovered a single giant aquifer — where water that’s spent hundreds of thousands of years passing through Pikes Peak meets younger water from Williams Canyon.
It’s this mixing pool — the chemistry of new water meeting old — that results in the effervescent springs and their distinct flavors.
Luiszer said he had spent much time working below Rampart Range, hearing gunshots overhead. “You could probably open a lead mine up there,” he said.
Yet he isn’t worried about the shooting range contaminating the aquifer.
“The soil where the bullets actually land will get contaminated with lead, but it doesn’t move very far,” he said, explaining that lead readily fixes itself to iron minerals, clays, and organic materials like decomposing leaves.
Luiszer, whose laboratory at CU-Boulder analyzes samples from shooting ranges, said he rarely finds lead below the top 6 inches of soil.
“The biggest danger of a firing range like that is that sooner or later, as you get more hikers and bikers using that area, and people start to build nearby it, they will finally shut it down,” he said. “It becomes a campground or something, and then you end up having contaminated soil and children playing in it.”
For his part, Botts said the solution may not involve closing the shooting range — but rather opening other ranges to better serve the area’s high number of gun enthusiasts.
“I think that we need more shooting opportunities for the Front Range folks,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be on public land.”
On a recent morning, Wolverton drove up to Rampart Range where he encountered a halfdozen shooters — one of whom paused to attest to the virtues of lead ammunition versus pricier alternatives.
Before Wolverton turned to go, he surveyed the shot-up signs, the stumps of dead pine trees, and the fields full of broken glass, spent cartridges and shattered electronics.
“If this place started in the 1950s or 1960s, before we were culturally attuned to these issues, that would be one thing,” he said. “In 1990, when we already knew so much — it was extremely short-sighted.”
It's not a joke... the shooting range here does. It has value. They go through and mine the lead from the ranges... you only have to skim the surface at a shotgun range, somehow they filter out the lead and spread the dirt back on the field.
The Drive By media is using the “Guns are evil” mantra again by having a child’s toy lead the article.
And more ranges will start harvesting lead, considering it’s about $1.25 a pound now, and will probably peak next year.
Shot has gone from $25 a bag to $40 a bag in the last year.
sounds like the shooters are a bunch of slobs. they should clean up their garbage after themselves. sounds like that is a bigger problem than the lead
The gun range near my place has strict rules about what target are allowed and about cleaning the grounds. The place is spotless. Those who don’t follow the rules don’t get to come back.
the guy that own the land i shoot on is starting to harvest his shooting range.
he’s gotten into shooting 45cal rifles, and casting his own bullets. it takes 2 .44mag and 1 .22LR bullets to make one of his 500gr bullets. as much as he’s shooting those things, he’s saving a crap load of money.
Many of the BCPR shooters around here make the rounds of tire shops to get old wheel weights.
Lead prices are getting up there. Fortunately the only thing I reload is .410 for skeet, so I get about 800 shells per bag.
Read http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/ for more info. It is an old post so you will have to scroll down.
For those of you that live where you can shoot, public (or for that matter private club) ranges are not important. Sort of like Jimbo and black rifles. For the rest of us they are very important.
i need to learn how to cast one of these days. feeding my .44 is getting expensive quickly. i’ve already sent about 1,000 rounds down range in the 3 months since i’ve gotten it.
I don’t think that you are too far off there, but I don’t believe there are any ranges in National Parks. It’s not legal to carry there.
But the vast lead deposits around Leadville, Colorado are not a hazard. Why not? No guns were involved.
I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that.
“This spring, at Botts’ request, the National Rifle Association reviewed the shooting range and produced a scathing report,”
Good ol’ NRA.
I think I'd be more worried about the shattered elcetronics washing into the ground water than lead. Lead is heavy, compared to components used in some electronics.
Great minds think alike.
Remington has a $5 rebate going for their Core Lokt ammo. I think the form can be downloaded from their site. A box of Express goes for under $13 at Wal Mart.
Unfortunately, .44 (and .41 for my lever gun) has gone through the roof. All the more reason to spend more time fishing.
I have mixed feelings about that.
We have a 'free for all' ad hoc shooting range in a gravel pit in our state forest that has been there for YEARS.
It's free, and there's no rules or limitations, and because of that, the place would be an embarrassment to us if someone ever decided to make a stink about it. The ground is several inches deep with debris and garbage. Garbage breeds more garbage. If the place were clean, I know I'd keep it clean and pick up our garbage and spent brass. But when you look around, it's natural to say "why bother?" And leave it there, just like everyone else.
Free ranges on public land are handy... I know we enjoy shooting there. And if they would put a sign up saying "this gravel pit is a sacrifice area, not a wildlife refuge. Please shoot here, leave your garbage here, and refrain from messing up the rest of the forest" then maybe that in itself is a defense of leaving it open. But I will not be surprised if/when someone walks in there, and with a tear in his eye like the indian in the old anti-litter commercial, gets it shut down.
There is a benefit in the private shooting club. Someone owns it, the members feel responsible for cleaning it up.
Hire a range master, charge a daily fee - say $6 or so. It will be the range master's responsibility to insure those who are shooting will police their areas prior to leaving. Only acceptible targets will be paper only unless shooting clays..........
I frequently go to a public range in Utica, MI. Its for clay targets only and also archery but it costs $6 to shoot. There is a range master there who you pay, he chats with you and he makes sure to tell you to pick up your hulls when finished. Since he reloads, me may even take the hulls from you. If you need ammo, he'll sell you his reloads.He's retired so he's not concerned about his pay, he just enjoys being out there.
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