By Karen L. MacNutt,
Contributing Editor

When I first started shooting, many of the old timers did not use proper hearing protection on the range. Some used cotton or spent shell casings in their ears as improvised protection. Others used nothing.

"You should wear hearing protection," I would say.

"Huh?? What did you say?" was the response.

"You," I said increasing my volume, "should wear ear protection."

"Speak up. Can't hear ya."

"Wear ear protection," I screeched pointing at my ears.

"OH!," was the response, "That stuff's no good. I never use it."

Although sportsmen led the way in conservation, they are sometimes a little behind in environmental issues. This may be due, in part, to the anti-gun position of some people on the radical end of environmental protection. Responsible care of the environment is everyone's business. It is also the law.

Environmental law consists of a series of state and federal laws dealing, for the most part, with clean air, clean water, and the disposal of waste products. Federal statutes form the heart of environmental law, but state laws may also regulate the environment, resulting in slight variations in environmental law from state to state. All of these laws impact firing ranges.

Growing urbanization increases the strain on shooting ranges in many areas. Often ranges are the last blocks of land not covered by urban sprawl. Contractors and land speculators will build to the property lines. Because range use is intermittent, it is easy for real estate brokers to show adjoining property when the ranges are not in use. Awaking on Saturday morning to the sound of gunfire can be a sudden and disturbing shock to those who move into their dream home unaware of who their neighbors are. Often the homeowner's anger is not directed at the real estate broker but at the range. All kinds of complaints will be filed in an attempt to close the range.

There are a number of things ranges should do to protect themselves from complaints. The first thing is to maintain good relations with neighbors and local town officials. Work with the local conservation commission. Try to get club members on the local conservation commission and zoning board. This will give the club advanced notice of developments being considered in your area.

Second, make sure the club's property is well groomed and presentable in appearance. Well cared for property reassures people that the club knows what it is doing.

Third, be visible in the community in a positive manner. Run programs for the public such as home safety and hunter safety programs. Post notices of events where the general public will see them. Make sure people know the club is there without being obnoxious about it. Have a sign that is both attractive and visible. Post the property so that if developers build to the property line, potential homeowners will be on notice that the range is there.
Some developers will tear down the club's signs because they want to keep potential home buyers in the dark. Removing the signs is a crime. If you catch someone defacing the club's signs or boundary markers, you should file a criminal complaint. In some areas the club may be able to record a "noise" easement with the registry of deeds. An easement is the right to cross someone else's property. Power lines frequently cross other people's property because the power companies have an easement.

Fourth, ranges should buy as much land as they can around the range to act as a buffer between the range and its neighbors. If the range currently has friendly neighbors, ask them for a noise and dust easement along the boundary or to refer to your club by name in their title documents. One way of expanding property holdings is to buy life estates from the current owners. A life estate is a type of land ownership in which one person is deeded the right to occupy the property for life and a second person is deeded the right to have the property after the first person's death. The range would be buying the right to own the property after the current owner's death. An older person who has an immediate need for cash but who does not want to give up his or her home may find this very attractive.

Fifth, ranges must be constructed so that there is no fallout on other people's land. This tends to be a problem with shotgun ranges. Ranges should periodically re-examine their fallout fans. It is much easier for a range to make changes voluntarily than to be shut down because of escaped rounds.

Sixth, make sure range safety rules are sufficient, posted, and enforced. This can be a defense if there is a question about escaped rounds or the safety of the range.

Noise pollution is a common complaint against ranges. Clearly people on the firing line and within the high noise area just behind the firing line should wear ear protection. While noise levels at the berm end of the range are much lower than the firing line, people pulling targets on high power ranges may also need ear protection. Super sonic (high velocity) rounds passing directly over head can be quiet noisy.

Although shots can be heard at great distances, the level of noise falls off rapidly as the distance from the firing line grows. In many cases, the noise levels created by ranges experienced by neighbors of a firing range are less than things such as lawn mowers, trucks, aircraft, and other sounds people accept. People who are uncomfortable with guns, however, may be upset because shots are being fired even though the noise is not that loud. Not much can be done about that except to befriend such people in hopes they can be made to feel more comfortable with the sound.

Limiting the hours of operation of an outdoors range to respect those hours people usually expect to be peaceful is helpful. Allowing natural vegetation, such as trees, to act as sound baffles can also help. In areas with persistent problems, berms, fences or other material may be placed about the firing line to capture some of the sound.

Not all sound can be captured. One range I knew of took all kinds of steps but had one neighbor who persistently complained about three shots fired first thing every Sunday morning. It was against range rules to fire that early so the range officers went on a stake-out to find the culprit. Sure enough, they heard the banging but it was not coming from the range. They traced the sound to the neighboring Elks hall. Each Sunday morning the janitor cleaned up from the night before. The last thing he did was to let the metal lids of the dumpsters fall shut-"BANG, BANG, BANG."

Wetlands laws frequently impact on ranges. Many ranges near urban areas were built on inexpensive land that was not attractive for development. Such land may be swampy or contain ponds. Such areas may be deemed to be wetlands under federal law.
Federal law defines "wetlands" as an area that is saturated by surface or ground water with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions. Natural ponds and swamps are wetlands. There is no requirement, however, that wetlands be natural. Man-made pools, such as duck ponds or fire ponds, may be held to be wetlands. Even vernal pools, excavations that collect water or persistent puddles may become wetlands if they develop a wetland eco-system under this type of definition.

Federal law prohibits the dredging, filling in or discharge of pollutants into wetlands without a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Law is strange. When you pass a law, you can give your own definitions to words. These definitions do not have to be the same as a dictionary definition. It is important to look at the definitions section of any law you are trying to understand because the meaning of a word can change from one law to another.

Federal laws must relate to some power given to Congress by the Constitution. In the case of the Clean Water Act, Congress relied upon its power to regulate interstate commerce. Therefore, the federal Clean Water Act only applies to the "waters of the United States." "Waters of the United States," however, are defined as: all waters that are or were at one time or could in the future be used in interstate or international commerce (that includes colonial canoe traffic); all interstate waters including wetlands (a swamp or water shed that is in two or more states); all other waters such as lakes, rivers, mud flats, sloughs, potholes or wet meadows totally within one state but which could be used by interstate travelers for recreation, from which fish or shell fish could be taken or which could be used for an industrial purpose. That is a very broad definition. States may then regulate those wetlands that are not part of the waters of the United States. Landowners must comply with both federal and state laws.

Under the Clean Water Act, pollutants may not be drained into rivers or streams or wetlands. In the case of the wetlands acts, a "pollutant" could be just about anything including salt, dishwater, or dust off the kitchen floor. Some material is not considered a pollutant when in use, such as pavement, but is considered a pollutant if it is torn up.

What types of activity might get a club in trouble? Filling in or draining part of a wetland. Dredging a pond or damming a stream to deepen a pond. Extending a berm into a wetland or improving a road across a wetland. These are all activities that might cause trouble if not done correctly. Allowing solvents or other chemicals to be improperly disposed of can cause problems as can the illegal dumping of cars, refrigerators or other items that might contain hazardous materials. Firing ranges must be careful of what they allow people to bring onto their property as unconventional fill for back stops or targets. Once on range property, the range becomes responsible for the legal disposal of such items. Clearly septic systems must be properly maintained. Pit facilities for human waste should be avoided.

Under some laws current uses are exempted or grandfathered. If such is the case, the current facility can be repaired or improved so long as the "foot print" of the facility is not expanded and the use rate is not significantly increased. You could, for example, increase the height of a berm but you may not be able to add firing points. Expansion of the facility or the building of an entirely new facility may not be allowed. Careful consideration should always be given to any plan to discontinue a range, to alter its configuration, or to move it.

Shooting over wetlands would not seem to be a problem as long as lead is not ending up in the wetland. In the case of shotgun ranges, an attempt should also be made not to have the clay targets end up in the wetland area. Using biodegradable targets can reduce the mess conventional targets create after the prolonged use of a range.

Range improvements that involve the filling or draining of wetlands can lead to major problems for a club if not properly permitted. Orders to "restore" the land to its prior condition are common remedies for unlawful filling. It can be very costly to comply with such orders. Even the unintentional filling of the wetlands might cause a problem with government agencies. Before undertaking projects that might impact on wetlands, clubs should always consider environmental laws.

Lead contamination is a long-standing problem with firing ranges. Lead contamination may come from primers, lead particles released when the gun is fired, or from projectiles breaking up when they hit a back stop. Lead shot is not used in wetlands areas because ducks eat the shot. There is little or no reason to believe lead projectiles are a problem in other areas. Although the amount of migration or leaching of lead will vary depending upon the nature of the soil, studies at government ranges show that solid lead migrates very little in the soil. Berms on outdoor ranges can be constructed to aid in the recycling of expended projectiles. This helps keep the area clean. Recycling lead is environmentally sound and can form the basis of an environmental policy which is demonstrative of the range's good stewardship of its property.

Contaminates discharged into the air by burning gasses on outdoor ranges also do not pose a significant problem. One expert estimated that an entire year of daily use on an active range would not produce as many contaminates as one moderate fire works display.

Indoor ranges have different problems. Steel back stops tend to pulverize lead leading to an accumulation of lead dust. "Cleaning" of indoor ranges, if not done properly, may result in the dust becoming airborne where it can be inhaled or ingested after getting onto the hands of people using the range.

Just as you should always protect your ears with hearing protection when you shoot, you need to protect your health from lead ingestion.

You should never eat, smoke or chew gum on an indoor range. You should always wash your hands when you leave an indoor range. You should not participate in the "cleaning" of an indoor range unless the methods used have been designed to reduce the amount of lead dust in the air. Indoor range construction can do much to reduce the amount of lead present. New designs in backstops and ventilating systems give ranges the tools to dramatically reduce air-born contaminates. A growing number of resources from groups such as the NRA, private manufacturers, and the government have designs available to improve range construction.

The point is, we should all think about environmental issues in the conduct of our ranges. By being proactive in this area, we lessen the chance of being closed down because someone else thinks the range causes a problem.