AZ: BLM Target Shooting Planning Meetings for Table Mesa

From NRA-ILA:

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a recreation plan for Table Mesa, a site north of Phoenix that receives heavy recreational use from target shooters and off-highway vehicle users.

In recent months, NRA has sent emails to our Arizona members about this planning process and the importance of participating in it to ensure that the interests of shooters are addressed in the plan. A number of NRA members have participated in a clean up of Table Mesa and in preliminary meetings about the plan.

The next set of meetings will be held on Tuesday, February 3 from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Deer Valley Senior Center, located at 2001 W Wahalla Ln in Phoenix. Another will be held Tuesday, February 17 from 6 - 8 p.m. at the same location.

If you target shoot at Table Mesa or want to ensure that access to federal lands for target shooting is protected, please attend one of these public meetings and stay tuned for upcoming events at BLM's website for Table Mesa: www.TableMesaRecArea.com. Please look at the map on the web page showing areas proposed for closure and areas proposed for opening and be prepared at the meetings to discuss whether these alternatives work and if there are other alternatives that need to be addressed.

Copyright 2009, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action.
This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.

Update 1: Related alert from Alan Korwin:

Jan. 25, 2009

by Alan Korwin, Author
The Arizona Gun Owner's Guide
http://www.gunlaws.com/agog.htm

Do you remember the Forest Service meetings several years back? The announced purpose was to improve and enhance outdoor shooting in the National Forests, the main place everyone used to go.

The actual result was closure of more than 80,000 acres to shooting -- all the places near Phoenix metro (they're all listed in The Arizona Gun Owner's Guide) that people had used for decades. The details are posted here: http://www.gunlaws.com/Tonto.htm

Now the Bureau of Land Management is holding hearings on the use of Table Mesa Road off I-17 for outdoor marksmanship ("officials" like to call it "wildcat shooting" to denigrate outdoor marksmanship; never use their derogatory phrase, and scold them if they do).

This is one of the few remaining outdoor spots for target practice anywhere near Phoenix metro, and it gets a lot of use. I'm the first to recognize there is some crossfire across some of those hills and knolls. How to manage it all is complex. Keeping it open should be everyone's concern.

I plan to be there if I can (I have some other commitments). If the future of shooting sports and government encroachment on your rights is important, join other marksmen who will be at the hearing, described below in an NRA posting. Permission to circulate this note is of course granted (and encouraged).


Respectfully submitted,
Alan.


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