Local government officials are looking to take control of a piece of Pike National Forest that has long been a popular, controversial area for target shooting.

North of Woodland Park, across the Douglas County line off Colorado 67, the area known as Turkey Tracks was one focus of the U.S. Forest Service’s Integrated Management of Target Shooting Project — a broad, years-long effort that culminated in January with a plan drastically changing the legal, historic activity across public land near Front Range populations. The plan called for recreational shooting to be banned in 73% of Pike National Forest in phases while six ranges were developed and formalized. One is identified for Turkey Tracks.

But “progress has been delayed due to staffing and procedural challenges within the U.S. Forest Service,” read a recent update from Douglas County commissioners.

Hence commissioners’ directive for staff to pursue a special use permit allowing the county to build out and manage a range at Turkey Tracks.

“Our county commissioners are very committed to the shooting public and, like any other recreation group, want to do right by them,” said Andy Hough, Douglas County’s environmental resources coordinator.

The vision, he said: “facilities that are not available anywhere else, at least on public ranges, in the state.”

Professional blueprints show lanes and galleries and targets set across various distances for rifles and pistols, along with a hunting simulation zone around protective berms and fences.

Between Colorado Parks and Wildlife grants, matching funds and in-kind services pledged by Douglas County, $900,000 has been raised for initial construction, Hough said. Those are funds raised by the multi-agency organization he has chaired, the Southern Shooting Partnership.

The partnership formed nearly 10 years ago as the Forest Service sought to address what it described as alarming trends involving target shooters in a national forest shared by masses of hikers, cyclists, campers and off-roaders of Douglas, El Paso and Teller counties. Land managers have cited “shooting-related wildfires, injuries and at least one verified fatality, rising numbers of user conflicts and growing levels of resource damage.”

Turkey Tracks has been a flashpoint.

“There are typically several fires a year,” Hough recognized. “There’s been resource damage with all the trash. … There have been some near-misses and injuries.”

But despite pushback from nearby residents, the Forest Service has long seen the site as suitable for a formal range. The environment is already disturbed, officials have noted, with sloping backstops for safety and easy access for enthusiasts of major population centers.

With shooting to be banned in the surrounding forest, some have worried about a funnel effect at Turkey Tracks.

“I don’t see (the ban) as being the primary driver for using the range,” said Douglas County Commissioner and enthusiast George Teal. “I’d say the biggest draw is the amenity itself. … On the Front Range, we have but a handful of outdoor, publicly accessible ranges. That’s what’s gonna be the draw in my opinion.”

In terms of operating it into the future, he expressed confidence in a “largely self-sustaining, low-maintenance design” and current volunteerism at Turkey Tracks. Asked about fees that were discussed during the Integrated Management of Target Shooting Project, Teal said “it’s a possibility,” but “we’re not looking to make it a revenue-producing enterprise for the county.”

Another point of discussion over the years: oversight and enforcement. In surveying enthusiasts, “half of them wanted (ranges) managed with a range safety officer, and half of them did not; they didn’t want someone looking over their shoulder,” Hough said.

The Forest Service’s “adaptive management plan” outlines the possibility of officers should the need arise. That would be Douglas County’s intent at Turkey Tracks, Hough said.

The intent is only that at this point. The Forest Service is not typically quick to settle special use permits, such as those issued to concessionaires at campgrounds and scenic areas across Colorado.

“Permits can take years for the Forest Service. We’re hoping they can do better than that in this case,” Hough said.