First, Alabama had the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail started by the Retirement Systems of Alabama.
Now, Alabama has become the nation’s shooting range capital. Could it be called “The Alabama Shooting Trail?"
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) already operates 12 shooting ranges. It has purchased 1,842 acres in Shelby County to open a 13th—a giant shooting range and complex.
Those new acres will add to the 195 acres the state already owns there.
The plans for the Shelby Range sound like a Disney World for shooters:
A 300-yard rifle range,
A 100-yard rifle range,
50- and 25-yard pistol ranges,
An archery range,
Shotgun ranges,
Ranges for trap, skeet and five-stand.
The project is the latest from the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division of the ADCNR. It is located on Highway 25 near Columbiana, the county seat of Shelby County. The new shooting range is in the design phase right now, according to Michael Bloxom, WFF’s hunter education coordinator.
“All of the environmental impact studies and cultural resource studies have been approved, and the money from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been approved,” Bloxom said. “We have an engineering firm doing a topographic study to determine the best layout for our ranges.”
“We’re redoing the buildings there so we will have a full classroom,” he said. “We will have hunter education classes, department training classes, and Hunting 101 and Shooting 101 workshops. We’re doing a traffic study to make improvements to access the property.”
With all the work scheduled to be done, Bloxom estimated that it will take two years to open at least a portion of the facility to the public.
“We’ll put the archery range in first while we continue to work on the shooting ranges and improvements to the buildings,” he said. “With our budget, we’re going to be able to make it state-of-the-art with electronic targets similar to what is found on the most advanced ranges in the nation. That means with the 300-yard rifle range, you won’t have to go downrange to change paper targets. You will have a computer screen at your bench that will show where your shots are landing in real time.”
“Some of the pistol ranges will be set up for match shooting for some of these organizations that hold competitions. We’re looking at drawing people from all over the country to our range. It’s going to be a great asset for the community and the state but also attract attention nationwide with the quality of the facilities. It will open up economic opportunities outside of the Department of Conservation itself. The range will also provide a number of employment opportunities for those in the area as well, making this a very community involved resource.”
Bloxom said closeness to the Birmingham metro area should provide easy access for a large segment of the state’s people and take some pressure off their Cahaba Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Shooting Range.
A change in the way federal funds are apportioned from the excise tax on firearms and ammunition from the Pittman-Robertson Act enabled the significant budget allotted for the Shelby range.
Under new federal laws, most matching funds available to Alabama for wildlife and hunter education projects have changed from three-to-one matches to 90% matches. Purchasers of guns and ammunition now pay an 11% federal excise tax.
Justin Grider, WFF’s R3 coordinator, said, “Some states have not bought into making access easier for their constituents, but that is not the case in Alabama. I’m really proud of the work that Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries has done in partnership with NWTF (National Wild Turkey Federation), State Lands with Forever Wild, and The Nature Conservancy. This has allowed us to open up thousands of acres over the past several years to hunting and outdoor recreation opportunities. And hats off to our Law Enforcement Section for improving existing ranges and building new, state-of-the-art ranges that will be onboard in the next couple of years."
Alabama is a hunting state. Alabama is a shooting state.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler’s beat is the colorful and positive about Alabama. He writes about Alabama people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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