CCS Arizona BLM Recreational Shooting Outreach, Education and Monitoring (PDO)

Description of Program and/or Project a. Background: Recreational shooting, also known as target shooting, involves public land users who shoot firearms for pleasure. Shooting at targets on public lands is a growing recreational activity. Safety around recreational shooting areas needs improvement to protect non-shooters. Resource damage is prevalent and increasing. Education about outdoor ethics is not reaching the people who need it. Technology to make recreational shooting more sustainable is not commonly known to shooters or is simply not available. The recreational shooting community has not been organized to complete an education campaign. b. Objectives: The recipient, having the ability to work with others, such as interest groups, organizations, counties, state agencies, private property owners and business interests, should be capable of leading efforts to ensure sustainability of the public's demands and interest for enjoying responsible recreational shooting on public lands. Leadership will consist of working toward and assisting others in the care of areas, outreach for better safety and outdoor ethics and monitoring of trends in both location and effects of recreational shooting. Specific project areas include Table Mesa Recreation Area and Morgan City Wash, north of Phoenix and Miller Road, west of Phoenix. One major activity will be to engage in development of best management practices for outreach methods to effectively reach recreational shooters both on and off public lands surrounding the Phoenix area. These practices and techniques, which can be used to train others, would require support by industry and responsible use advocates. The recipient must have the capability of working with individuals, advocates and equipment manufacturers to develop or modify technology to make recreational shooting more sustainable. Recipient will be encouraged to engage in activities to provide area care, improve safety and environmental ethics and maintain the availability of existing shooting areas for the protection of shooting activities and non-shooting recreation opportunities. Working with others, the recipient will be encouraged to develop and disseminate education messages to recreational shooters, develop maintenance practices which can be applied to public land areas and provide assistance for the care of areas. The recipient should be prepared to work with others to propose and or/study techniques to enhance capability of the specialized recreational shooting support equipment in the marketplace.