We had a really good meeting this morning, with seven of us in attendance:
- Martie, the USFS ranger spearheading the effort
- Tyler, the USFS LEO who has been patrolling Greenwater and other areas
- Two concerned shooters who aren't active on WaGuns (yet
)
- Wendy, the concerned resident of the Greenwater area
- MADrtcw
- Me
We had a lot of good conversation about the issues at Greenwater (and other shooting pits) and possible things we can do to improve the situation. Bottom line, here's what we agreed to do:
1) We will have another cleanup on May 21st at 9:00 a.m., starting at the pit off 7013. MADrtcw will start a separate thread on this. As we did last time, the Forest Service will provide support (garbage bags, dumpsters, etc.) and it's up to us to bring the volunteer manpower.
2) Everyone agreed that the upper pit is an unacceptable hazard, as it is currently being used, because of bullets flying down into the lower pit. At the May 21st cleanup, some of us will meet with the Forest Service to review the upper pit and determine if it's practical to make changes to the pit to make it safe. That's the goal: Make it safe, and keep it open. If it's determined that we can't make it safe, it will likely be closed to shooting. In the meantime, the Forest Service may decide to close it to shooting temporarily until we can determine a permanent plan.
3) Everyone also agreed that the shooting area off of 7013 also needs changes. Shooting into the hillside there is fine; shooting into the woods off to the right of the hillside is not safe, as bullets can continue into the nearby community. On May 21st we will review this as well, and see if it is practical to make changes to the area to ensure that all shooting is done into the hillside.
We really need the shooting community's help to keep Greenwater safe and clean . . . and all of our other outdoor areas as well.
Like I said earlier, MADrtcw will be making a separate thread about the upcoming cleaning. Your help at that would be appreciated!