Oconto County will reopen the Machickanee Forest Shooting Range for several days to give hunters time to sight in their guns before the deer hunting season.
The Forest, Parks and Recreation Committee on Wednesday decided to reopen the range on a limited basis and continue its efforts to secure up to $150,000 in grant funding to reorient the range to make it safer and quieter. The dates and times of the temporary reopening will be decided Sept. 3.
The range on Garrity Road in Morgan has been closed since May 2 after neighbors reported hearing rapid fire and found stray bullets in their yards. The closure came just days after a public meeting in which neighbors said they were fearful to go outdoors or host outdoor events because of stray bullets.
Committee members agreed supervision was necessary at the facility when it reopens before the deer hunting season and long-term. The committee also plans to hang signs saying rapid firing is prohibited.
“When it was built, it was built to the safety restrictions assuming that everyone would follow the rules,” said Greg Sekela, committee chairman. “If we had it supervised, and we don’t let people go out there and randomly shoot, the range is safe the way it is.”
Before its abrupt closure, the range had been open from dawn to dusk 365 days of the year since 2003, without consistent supervision.
The committee also discussed plans to apply for a $150,000 grant to redesign and reorient the range in a direction not facing homes.
The grant could cover up to 75 percent of the cost, and the county could supply labor or dollars for its share, according to Robert Skalitzky, director of the Oconto County Forestry, Parks and Recreation Department. The committee will learn in January if its application is approved. Work at the site could begin as early as March.
Included in the grant proposal will be funding for a fence to be placed around the range to restrict public access when the range is closed. Shooting stations would be covered by roofs, to deaden the noise and prevent shooters from firing in any direction. Surveillance cameras were also recommended.
Skalitzky read four letters from neighbors of the range asking the committee to reconsider its decision to redesign and reopen the range in the Machickanee Forest.
In July, the committee evaluated sites for a shooting range in the northern towns of Breed, Bagley, Brazeau and Riverview, but decided to remain in the Machickanee Forest.
The other areas are less densely populated than the Machickanee site but had no well-developed access roads and no natural hills into which a shooting range could be developed. The swampiness of the sites and proximity to ATV or snowmobile trails were also drawbacks.
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