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Wednesday, June 6, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Forest Service closes shooting area near Crossroads
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
The Sisters Ranger
District has closed an area
west of the Crossroads subdi-
vision to shooting due to pub-
lic safety concerns.
The McKenzie gravel pit,
located west of Crossroads
near Sisters off Forest Service
Road 400, will be closed to
shooting due to concerns
about conflicts with other rec-
reational uses in the area and
potential for stray bullets to
fly outside the shooting area,
the Forest Service reports.
According to the Forest
Service, for the last several
years complaints about irre-
sponsible target shooting in
the area and reports of close
calls from stray bullets have
come into to the Sisters
Ranger District.
Sisters District Ranger Ian
Reid told The Nugget that a
cyclist reported in January
that two bullets had “zipped
by” him while he was riding
on the Jimerson Trail, which
is located about 165 yards
away from the gravel pit.
The use of the gravel pit
as a shooting site predates the
2013 construction of the trail,
but Reid noted that when
the trail was constructed the
pit was closed to the public
under the use of a permitee
who had a gravel mining and
firewood cutting operation
there.
The area is also used by
off-road-vehicle enthusi-
asts and will remain open to
vehicle use. Shooters who
violate the closure are subject
to citation.
Reid said that Forest
Service and Deschutes
County Sheriff law enforce-
ment officers, as well as an
independent party affiliated
with NRA shooting sports
organizations have reviewed
the site and have concluded
that the site is unsuitable for
safe target shooting, primar-
ily because it lacks an ade-
quate backstop for bullets and
the potential for stray bullets
is high.
There are two large
mounds of gravel, and the
north and east sides of the
pit feature slopes that form
backstops. The south side of
the pit facing the Jimerson
Trail is more open, making
the direction in which shoot-
ers direct their fire critically
important. The Forest Service
had placed signage and maps
in the pit to indicate safe
and unsafe directions of fire.
Those signs were shot up.
The Ranger noted that
there have also been instances
of horseback riders on the
Jimerson Trail impacted by
gunfire nearby.
“It’s a safety thing related
to the horses spooking and
potentially throwing someone
off,” he said.
While there have been
noise complaints from
Crossroads regarding gunfire
from the pit, Reid said that
those issues did not play into
the closure decision, which is
based entirely on safety.
Reid told The Nugget that,
given the public complaints
and the assessment that the
area is not safe, the Forest
Service essentially had to
take some action.
“If something were to hap-
pen in terms of a (member of
the) public getting killed or
injured, I think we’re hang-
ing out there a bit in terms of
liability,” he said.
The closure is temporary,
with a two-year maximum.
“The goal is to develop
a long-term strategy,” Reid
said.
Asked whether — since
the shooting area was in use
first — the Jimerson Trail
¶
The Forest Service has initiated a two-year closure on the McKenzie gravel
pit, affecting shooters. The area is still open to vehicle use.
might be deviated to skirt the more broadly on the Sisters
pit at a greater distance, Reid Rangers District.
There are four gravel or
said “that’s the kind of con-
cinder pits nearby, he noted,
versation we’d like to have.”
The district ranger said he “all of which are more suit-
understands the frustration of able than McKenzie.”
Shooting, like hunting, he
shooters who have used the
pit safely for a long time. And said, “is a legitimate use of
he also acknowledged that, the National Forest. It’s a use
since shooting is legal across we encourage to have happen
the forest, closure of the pit in a safe manner. I think the
might disperse the activity intent here is to still encour-
into other nearby areas that age and promote recreational
shooting in safe areas.”
are unsafe.
Information on safe shoot-
“That’s a possibility —
and we’ll be monitoring,” he ing practices on the National
Forest can be found at:
said.
Reid asserts that the clo- https://www.fs.usda.gov/
sure is not an attempt to main/deschutes/learning/
restrict recreational shooting safety-ethics.
Easy g!
n
Parki
Investigation:
Deputy fired
partly due
to campaign
behavior
BEND (AP) — An inves-
tigation discovered a former
Oregon sheriff ’s deputy’s
behavior during his campaign
for sheriff is among the rea-
sons he was fired.
The Bend Bulletin reports
an internal investigation
released by the Deschutes
County sheriff’s office found
Eric Kozowski violated office
policies by wearing his official
uniform at campaign events in
2016.
The investigation also
noted citizen complaints about
Kozowski and determined he
had violated office protocol
while investigating criminal
cases.
Kozowski was placed on
paid administrative leave in
September because of the
internal investigation’s find-
ings. He was fired January 31.
Kozowski’s attorney,
Michael McGean, filed a
lawsuit in February alleging
retaliation and a discrimina-
tory interpretation of sheriff’s
office policies.
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
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