Public Health and Safety Impacts of Recreational Shooting in Western Boulder County

Recreational shooting, sometimes referred to as sport shooting or target shooting, has long been a legal and allowed activity on most USFS (U.S. Forest Service) lands. In the past 15-20 years, however

Figure 1. Recreational shooting site within 1/3 mile of Raymond and less than 120 yds from the  Peak-to-Peak Highway. Note spent shell casings, trash and water flowing through the  intermittent drainage that discharges into Cave Creek and the Middle St. Vrain River.

by Bill Ellis, Raymond Resident

Recreational shooting, sometimes referred to as sport shooting or target shooting, has long been a legal and allowed activity on most USFS (U.S. Forest Service) lands. In the past 15-20 years, however, there has been a dramatic increase in recreational shooting activity, especially in regions near large urban population centers. This increase in shooting activity on public lands, coupled with an upsurge in popularity and use of semi-automatic and automatic weapons in recreational shooting, has raised public health and safety concerns among citizens who live on or own property adjacent to and near USFS land. Such has been the case along the northern front range of Colorado, including the county of Boulder. Efforts to address this issue have been ongoing for over a decade.

The USFS typically refers to shooting on USFS lands as “dispersed” shooting. In reality however, certain locations become popular with recreational shooters and evolve into what the USFS refers to as “undesignated shooting areas”. Typically, these undesignated shooting areas are located where there is easy access by motorized vehicle and within relatively short driving distances from urban areas. Unfortunately, such shooting areas are also often near rural residential neighborhoods, isolated residences and private property in the urban/wildland interface.

The usual concerns with recreational shooting near populated areas are with the potential danger from stray rounds and ricochets, potential for wildfire ignition, noise and quality of life issues. These are certainly valid concerns that need to be addressed, but one aspect of recreational shooting that has received little attention is the public health hazards from lead and other heavy and toxic metals. This is an especially serious concern in and near undesignated shooting areas where there is heavy and frequent shooting activity.

One such undesignated shooting area in Boulder County is located along U.S. Forest Service Road 217 near the communities of Raymond and Riverside. Shooting occurs at multiple locations along this road, with the most heavily used shooting location only 120 yds from the Peak-to-Peak highway and 1/3 of a mile from the Raymond townsite (Figure 1). The shooting locations along this portion of the USFS road straddle an intermittent drainage that carries water during spring runoff and heavy precipitation events (Figure 2). That drainage discharges into Cave Creek less than 300 yds from the shooting location. Cave Creek is a primary tributary to the nearby Middle St. Vrain River, and many in the Raymond/Riverside community get their domestic water supply from wells along the river. Lead  levels in soils at this site tested 79,000 ppm in the fall of 2020. 

Testing conducted in late summer of 2020 at the shooting location revealed lead  concentrations of 79,000 ppm in the soils on both sides of the drainage. Lead levels in samples  collected a short distance from the shooting location were only 15 ppm. Lead concentration in  soil at the shooting location is therefore over 5000 times greater than in nearby areas not  exposed to shooting. 

Although no level of lead is considered safe, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency screening level for lead in play areas is 400 ppm, and in non-play areas 1,200 ppm. Thus, lead in  the soils at the shooting location are as much as 200 times higher than considered acceptable  by EPA standards. The soils testing also indicated high levels of antimony and arsenic, as well as  elevated levels of copper, zinc and iron. Samples collected from sediment in the drainage  below the shooting location indicated that lead is moving downstream from the shooting site.  Of even greater concern, water testing done in the spring of 2021 indicated the presence of a  small amount of lead and elevated levels of iron in the Middle St. Vrain River below the  confluence of Cave Creek. Because lead and elevated levels of iron were not detected in water  samples taken above the confluence with Cave Creek the contaminants are attributable as  originating from the shooting locations on USFS land. 

Lead and other contaminants from undesignated shooting areas can easily find their way into  surface and groundwater, and as such pose a potentially serious environmental hazard and  threat to human health. The USFS is aware of the contamination issue at the shooting location  near Raymond, but to date has taken no action to address the problem. It is highly likely that  lead and other heavy etals conta inants are also present at other “undesignated shooting  areas” on USFS property within the ounty.  

In November of 2022 the Boulder County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing  regarding citizen concerns with recreational shooting near Raymond/Riverside and at two other  locations within and near Sugarloaf and West Magnolia. Lead contamination was cited as a  major concern from the shooting locations near Raymond/Riverside. As a result of that hearing  the Commissioners, under the apparent authority of Colorado Revised Statute 30-15-302, issued a resolution closing areas around these communities to recreational shooting.  Unfortunately, the USFS claims that the County does not have authority over USFS land and has  not cooperated with the County to implement shooting closures near Raymond/Riverside, or in  the Sugarloaf and Magnolia areas.

Paradoxically, in 2021 the USFS did support a resolution by  Larimer County Commissioners to close over 1800 acres of USFS land to shooting in the Crystal Lakes residential area based on public safety concerns. The USFS has stated that it can only  implement shooting closures based on public safety concerns, but not for environmental  reasons. Apparently, the agency does not consider high levels of lead contamination to be a  public safety issue even if near residential areas and water sources.

In June 2019 the Supervisor of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest issued a formal  decision regarding recreational sport shooting management in Jefferson, Clear Creek, Park,  Gilpin, Boulder, Larimer and Grand counties. In the decision the USFS agreed to close areas  identified as unsuitable for recreational shooting in those counties contingent upon new public  ranges being open. The decision was a result of collaboration between the USFS and several  front range counties as part of the Northern Front Range Recreational Sport Shooting  Management Partnership in 2013. 

With respect to Boulder County, this decision would result in large areas of National Forest land  in Boulder County being closed to recreational shooting once a range with a capacity of 25  shooting lanes is open to the public within the County (Figure 3). Ranges that meet the USFS  condition are in the process of being developed for Clear Creek, Jefferson, Park and Gilpin  counties. Despite efforts over the past ten years, however, Boulder County has not yet  succeeded in locating or opening such a range. The problems and issues with recreational  shooting in Boulder County will therefore likely only intensify when the USFS closes down areas  to shooting in the neighboring counties that have opened ranges as part of the USFS decision.

Figure 2. Areas in orange have been identified by the USFS as unsuitable for recreational  shooting based on public safety concerns. These areas would be closed to recreational  shooting providing a public range with a capacity of 25 shooting lanes is open to the public in  Boulder County. Areas in purple are currently closed to recreational shooting. (https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTools/index.html?appid=686de900600743db9e54b16 7fa7bf40f)

Target shooting is a legitimate recreational activity enjoyed by many, and such folks need a public range that is safe and does not create environmental and public health and safety hazards. With the vast amount of USFS land in Boulder County, and with over 65,000 acres of County owned land, it is difficult to understand why a solution that meets the needs of both recreational sport shooting enthusiasts as well as the non-shooting public cannot be found.

Several other counties within the State have partnered with the USFS and State agencies to develop and provide such ranges. It is time that Boulder County and the USFS work together to address the public health and safety concerns, as well as environmental issues, associated with recreational shooting on USFS land within the County.

Public concerns may be addressed to the USFS and the Boulder County Commissioners:

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, Supervisors Office: 2150 Centre Ave, Building E, Fort Collins, CO 80526

Boulder County Board of Commissioners: commissioners@bouldercounty.gov

Originally published in the March 7, 2023, edition of The Mountain-Ear