SISTERS, OR -- A popular target shooting area on the Sisters Ranger District is closed to shooting, effective immediately. Jean Nelson Dean, with the Deschutes National Forest, says they received over a hundred complaints last year, involving shooting in the McKenzie Storage area, "It’s within 165 yards of a recreational trail and it’s also near the Crossroads Subdivision. We’ve tried to make it a safe location, because it is popular, but it really isn’t adequate."
She says there’s no back-stop and there are safety concerns, "Based on reviews by our law enforcement and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Department, we’ve determined that we do need to close it so we don’t have any kind of stray bullet hitting a member of the public." Nelson Dean tells KBND News the shooting prohibition is temporary, for now. "There are several other locations, as well as the National Forest land that people can shoot on, as long as they’re doing it in a safe manner - and that’s what was not happening here. The Sisters District Ranger is going to enter into a community conversation around developing maybe a safer location nearby that people could shoot."
