Ex-astronaut gets forest to close local shooting range

Josey1

Ex-astronaut gets forest to close local shooting rangeBy JOANNA DODDERThe Daily Courier PRESCOTT - Dick Gordon didn't mind getting shot into space back in the 1960s.But he's pretty upset these days about shooting near his home. On Nov. 30, the former astronaut and his wife got what they asked for: temporary closure of a neighboring shooting range on the Prescott National Forest. Courier/Tom HoodForest service officials closed this shooting range off of Iron Springs Road on Nov. 30.Because of a written complaint from the Gordons to the U.S. Forest Service's Southwestern Regional Office, Prescott National Forest Lands and Special Uses Administrator Doug Vandergon called the Prescott Sportsmen's Club Friday and ordered the club to temporarily close its shooting range on the forest west of Prescott.Forest Supervisor Mike King put the temporary closure order into writing Wednesday. It will remain in effect until a certified inspector deems the range safe.Club members note that the Forest Service has never closed the range before, even when a group of neighbors complained loudly about the shooting three years ago. Since then, the Forest Service has received just two minor complaints, about shooting after hours - until the Gordons moved next door several months ago, Vandergon and King said.Club members think that because Gordon was an astronaut during the 1966 Gemini II and 1969 Apollo 12 flights, he's getting special treatment."I think they think this guy is somebody, because he was an astronaut," said the club's president, Bob Frushon. "He's just another person to me. "There has never been an accident whatsoever on this property for 43 years. Why is it so unsafe now?"Ironically, with the closest open shooting range now near Phoenix, the Prescott Basin may experience more illegal shooting, Frushon said. The club's range is the only legal place to shoot within the basin, but forest users commonly hear shooting throughout the area.The Gordons came to the shooting range with a video camera in October when shooting continued less than a minute after the 5 p.m. closing time, said Jim White, rangemaster and caretaker.The Gordons wouldn't identify themselves, and were rude when he tried to explain that he let a young hunter shoot off a couple of rounds after 5 p.m. so he could sight his rifle before a hunting trip the next day, White said."Whatever connections he's got, he abused them, because he's accusing us of being unsafe and we're not," said White, who has no source of income while the range is closed.Vandergon and King say the Forest Service isn't giving any special treatment to the Gordons. The Gordons have declined to speak to The Daily Courier.Sounds on a videotape from the Gordons indicate bullets are ricocheting from the berms, Vandergon and King said. The shooting range is not visible in the videotape. Forest Service officials didn't try to independently verify any problems after the Gordons complained, Vandergon said."The regional office expressed concern about ricochets, and wanted us to act with uniformity in the region," Vandergon said. "It's a touchy situation. Today's a different day than it was three years ago."It's impossible for any bullets to stray into the neighboring Wildwood subdivision, Frushon and White said. The shooting path runs parallel to the subdivision, the berms are at least 100 yards away, and more berms block the 300-yard view between the shooters and homes except for one new home on a hill, Frushon said.Two certified inspectors in 1999 determined that the range is safe, and the Forest Service permit calls for another inspection by June 2002. This summer, the club added two steel 20-foot-long boxes between the rifle and the handgun range for added safety and storage, even though the Forest Service didn't ask for it, Frushon said.But now, the Forest Service is requiring an inspector to certify the range is safe before re-opening it to the 418 club members and hundreds of other users, including local law enforcement officers.Frushon said the club won't be able to get any inspectors up here until at least next week.Back in 1957 when the Prescott National Forest originally issued the club a permit for a shooting range, it was a remote site off Iron Springs Road.Today, people have built homes right up to the forest boundary. Club members figure the neighbors just don't like the noise."If I didn't like the noise, I wouldn't buy a house next to a firing range," Frushon said."They're complaining about the noise, well, they moved next door to a firing range, what do they expect?" agreed club member Bob Corbin, a former National Rifle Association president.Vandergon had a similar view."I wouldn't want to live next door to a shooting range," he said.Some shooting ranges are located in the middle of urban areas such as Los Angeles, and still are safe, so it is possible, Vandergon said.But the Forest Service has made it clear that it would like the club to move the range to a new site when the current permit expires in 2014.Contact Joanna Dodder at jdodder@prescottaz.com http://www.communitypapers.com/dailycourier/myarticles.asp?P=514549&S=400&PubID=7880