Williams shooting range shot down

Arizona Game and Fish rejects local site for range

WILLIAMS - Officials with the Arizona Game and Fish Department recently rejected a proposed location for a northern Arizona shooting range in the vicinity of Williams, citing a desire to possibly locate the range in the Willard Springs area. The Groseta family recently submitted a proposal to the Arizona Game and Fish Department to locate a shooting range on their land, located roughly three and a half miles northwest of the city of Williams, in the hopes that the range would be located locally.

Prior to official's rejection of the site, Andy Groseta presented the idea to members of Williams City Council during their regular meeting June 25 and asked council members for their support on the project.

"We have a property out there northwest of Williams," Groseta said. "The old Pronghorn Ranch, we call it Pine Creek Ranch, which is basically just north of town near the airport more or less. We sold the ranch back in 2000 and retained a forest inhold."

Groseta said he and his family offered their land as a public shooting range after learning about efforts by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to find a suitable location for one in northern Arizona.

"People need a place to go shoot. It's that simple," Groseta said. "I do think the Game and Fish Department needs to provide that to the public, wherever they need to go."

He cited a number of reasons why a public shooting range is important for areas where outdoor recreation and outdoor lifestyles are prevalent, which included the importance of firearm safety education for youth.

"We think it would make a nice location for a shooting range," Groseta said. "It's close enough to town, yet far enough away to be away. We are very much in the preliminary stages of all of this. They're putting together a laundry list of properties and we fell within a 30 or 40 minute radius of Flagstaff, but whether it's indoor or outdoor, I don't know."

Mike McCauley, owner of Perrin Ranch, located north of the proposed Williams site, also spoke during the meeting to express concerns regarding the legality of carrying firearms near a railroad right-of-way and with trash resulting from the shooting range, as well as other concerns.

"The other (issue) that I have has to do with the amount of traffic, the amount of trash, the impact on the neighboring acreage that's out there," McCauley said, adding that he currently has a hunting agreement with Arizona Game and Fish officials on his land.

"During hunting season, from the middle of August through the end of January, each year I can document over 600 vehicles per month on the ranch, which is a huge impact for human activity," McCauley said. "It's not one that is sustainable by the environment that's out there. I'm dealing with damages out there all year every year. The ranch's cost for hunting is about $10,000 a year. Nobody covers that expense but the ranch."