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Shooting Range
Petition Sponsored By:
On behalf of all permitted users of the Myrtle Grove WMA shooting range, Southern Maryland Shooting Times is sponsoring this petition, to prove the hunting and sport shooting community's interest in the construction of a permanent roofing structure over the bench area at the Myrtle Grove shooting range. The range is, for the most part, deemed unusable by the majority of paying customers during rain days, extreme heat, or other inclemate weather conditions. The availability of a protective roofing structure is a much requested necessity by those of us users who wish to make use of our prepaid permits on such days.
We, the undersigned, are submitting this petition to you, and your department, our names, as individual requests, and as a group that supports this cause so that you and the deciding parties with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, can be made aware of the importance of this project to us.
We appreciate your time and we look forward to any updates and details regarding the construction process of the roofing structure over the range bench area.
Sincerely,
UPDATES
Email replies SMST has received from
"Thank you for your e-mail about the Myrtle Grove WMA Shooting Range. We have had a few inquiries and suggestions about overhead cover for the shooting bench area at the Myrtle Grove Range over the last couple of years. Our staff also agrees a roof over the shooting bench area would make a nice improvement to the Myrtle Grove Range. In response to those requests we did submit a proposal and request to our Engineering and Construction division of DNR to engineer and construct a roof for the shooting bench area of the range.
Please keep in mind that any changes to the range have to meet NRA specifications and a roof over the shooting benches will have to meet engineering safety standards and guidelines so this is not a project that my staff can do themselves. It must be engineered by our Engineering and Construction Division and the work must be completed by a qualified contractor.
Unfortunately due to continuing budget cuts there is no firm timeline for doing this project. Please keep in mind that there are some other options for using the range when the weather is bad. Some shooters use large umbrellas that are clamped onto the shooting benches and some shooters use “easy-up” type canopies as overhead cover when they are shooting in the rain. Both of these options are fine so long as they do not interfere with other shooters using the range. Please give me a call at 410-535-0282 if you have any more questions or would like to discuss this further.
Thank You,
Dave Heilmeier
"Thank you for your e-mail about the Myrtle Grove Shooting Range. The proposed Myrtle Grove Shooting Range Project currently under consideration by DNR Engineering and Construction includes constructing a roof over the shooting bench area and the rebuilding of all of the shooting benches. The project is being considered for possible implementation in Fiscal Year 2011. Please keep in mind that with the States and our Departments current budget situation there is unfortunately a very real possibility that the project will be postponed again. If you have any further questions you can contact me directly at 410-535-0282."
Thank You,
Dave Heilmeier
"Thanks for your email and it is good to see the strong interest from your shooting community in this improvement. Please allow me some time to look into the matter with Dave Heilmeier and his managers here in Annapolis as well as our engineering / construction folks and I will be back in touch early next year. In the meantime best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and New Year. John"
Mr. Owens,
DNR Engineering and Construction has informed me that the Myrtle Grove Shooting Range Project is on their master list for the 2012 fiscal year. Assuming the funding is in place then, the money would be available in July of 2011 (which is the beginning of the 2012 fiscal year) and we could possibly complete construction that fall (2011). Once the project is started and the architecture and engineering is completed the construction should go fairly quickly. Please remember that this timeline is dependent on adequate budget and there is no guarantee the funding will be available. Unfortunately, as you know this project (as well as many other projects) has been postponed before. Please give me a call (410-535-XXXX) if you have any further questions.
Thank You,
David Heilmeier  |
