Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Recreation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parks director urges plan for busy county shooting range: volunteer RSO program and fee changes proposed
Summary
Parks and Recreation reported heavy use at the county shooting range and raised safety concerns about an unsupervised facility; staff proposed exploring volunteer range safety officers (RSOs), design changes and a future fee update after an approval to expand range boundaries from the BLM.
Iron County Parks and Recreation Director (Marie) told commissioners on Sept. 8 that use of the county shooting range has increased markedly and that the county should consider steps to manage safety and capacity.
"Our range is unsupervised," Marie said, noting the site currently posts "participants enter at their own risk" signage. She described repeated complaints and calls for an on‑site presence to limit unsafe behavior. The parks director proposed a volunteer RSO (range safety officer) calendar: trained volunteers would staff the range on scheduled days while users could choose to visit when an RSO is present or not.
Marie said berms at the site are as high as current equipment allows and that further physical modifications would require substantial work. She recommended a site visit to a larger range in southern Utah to review staffing models and facilities and asked commissioners to consider the tradeoffs of charging fees or assigning staff to provide supervised hours.
Separately, the county reported that the Bureau of Land Management approved a southern boundary expansion for the range; parks staff are waiting for final legal descriptions before moving forward. Parks also said it has split a group area into two reservable bays - a change that will prompt a fee schedule update to reflect the ability to rent two separate group areas.
Why it matters: range use and safety intersect with liability, county staff workload and visitor services. The parks director stressed a vetting process for volunteers to reduce risk of placing an unsuitable person in a supervisory role.
Ending: Parks staff will return with a proposed fee change and said they will work with law enforcement and stakeholders to design any volunteer RSO program.
