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BLM proposes emergency shooting closure on West Mountain after residents report stray rounds
Summary
BLM officials told the Utah County Commission they will seek an emergency closure on parts of West Mountain after ballistics and local reports linked stray rounds to target shooting near the Payson dump; commissioners asked BLM to identify alternatives and return with refined maps in weeks.
The Bureau of Land Management’s West Desert District told the Utah County Commission that a growing number of reports, ballistics testing and local law-enforcement findings point to recreational target shooting on West Mountain as the likely source of stray rounds impacting nearby homes.
“Our 7,700,000 acres that we administer in the West Desert … are, for the most part, open to public shooting,” BLM district manager Mike Gates said, framing the agency—s goal to preserve multiple uses of the public lands while addressing public-safety concerns. BLM staff said most of the problematic activity centers near the Payson dump on the southern end of West Mountain and showed commissioners a map of…
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