Part of Lefthand Canyon near Boulder has been closed to recreational shooting because the irresponsible discharge of firearms has endangered people using an off-highway road nearby, U.S. Forest officials said.
The 30-acre site known as the “Slot Canyon area” is adjacent to Lefthand Canyon Drive at mile post 4.5, according to District Ranger Christine Walsh.
She said people using the area have been subject to numerous “near misses” and that vandalism and other forms of boisterous behavior have resulted in the area’s closing to recreational shooters.
“This is a last resort,” said Walsh. “If we don’t do something immediately, someone will get hurt. We are closing the smallest area possible to prevent an injury and provide for public safety.”
Walsh said that there were five documented “near misses” in recent years where U.S. Forest Service employees were almost shot. The two most recent incidents occurred last summer and one late last month. She said the Forest Service received at least 10 complaints from private citizens using the area that they were almost hit by bullets.
The area is near the junction of five roads — known as “Five Points” — which makes the careless discharge of weapons that much more dangerous.
Walsh said people with firearms have shot over a natural backstop, causing bullets to cross the heavily used off-highway road above the shooting area. In addition, Forest Service signs in the area have been used for target practice.
The signs, she noted, say: “Shoot at the targets, not into the trees.”
Walsh said this all has occurred despite increased patrols of the canyon.
A “huge problem,” said Walsh, also is the presence of “toxic trash” in the now closed area.
People bring in computers, water heaters and other items to use as targets. After they shoot them up, they leave them there, resulting in a toxic mess, she said.
The district ranger said the danger to people by the haphazard discharge of weapons is compounded by the fact that about 20,000 people live within the Forest Service boundaries on private land. And there are about 2,000 miles of Forest Service boundaries in the district with subdivisions just on the other side.
Walsh stressed that recreational shooting is something that should be permitted on U.S. Forest Service land. She is trying to find areas where that activity can take place, noting that with development along the Front Range, many gun clubs have had to close their doors.
Kent Ingram, past president of the Colorado Wildlife Federation and a member of Front Range Shooting Partners, said that although recreational shooting is a legitimate use of public land, the closure of the area is “necessary and regrettable.”
“This action reinforces the need for us to work hard to provide safe and sustainable recreational shooting areas along the Front Range,” Ingram said.
The closure is immediate, taking affect today.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
