Gun-range project awaits check for threatened bird

More than 10 years after the concept for a public shooting range was initiated, the project is stymied again, this time by concerns over a threatened bird.

But Snohomish County officials say they're still hopeful that, barring any major habitat issues over the marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests deep in forests, the shooting range could be built in 2007.

The county will conduct a survey of about 150 acres of state land in the Sultan Basin for marbled-murrelet habitat. The bird was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1992. The $61,000 survey should begin in May and be wrapped up in September because nesting season is the best time to search for the bird's locations.

Since 1994, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been prepared to give the land to the county for use as a public shooting range. The DNR manages thousands of acres that once belonged to counties with an expectation that it would return the property for an approved park use. A shooting range is an approved use. Ballfields are another.

The last time Snohomish County requested a return of forestland from the DNR was in the mid-1990s for ballfields near Darrington, said Stan Kurowski, the DNR's northwest-region asset manager.

Though the shooting range is wanted by sports and shooting groups, different issues have stalled the project.

After considering several locations for the range in the 1990s, the county picked the Sultan Basin because of its distance from urban centers. A 200-acre parcel was selected, but boundary questions caused the county to go back and redefine the size of the project to about 150 acres.

The new boundaries includes wetlands and other forestland determined to be prime habitat for the marbled murrelet, a secretive bird that often nests in trees taller than 100 feet. That has raised new concerns for the DNR, which wants the county to assess impacts on the bird should a shooting range be constructed.

If impacts were not considered significant, the county said the range could be open in 2007, as long as the DNR moved quickly with the paperwork needed to transfer ownership of the land.

County officials say they hope the public range would greatly reduce illegal shooting in the basin and other places throughout the county. The Sultan Basin has long been the center of complaints for illegal shooting and dumping. "No shooting" signs there are riddled with bullet holes.

Initially, the range was to be used by law enforcement, too, but a police range has been built elsewhere. That should lower the expected $3 million construction cost to about $1.5 million, said Marc Krandel, the county's deputy director for parks and recreation.

The county plans to hire an operator for the range because the parks and recreation department has no experience with gun ranges, Krandel said.

The project is expected to include a number of options for shooters, including areas for pistol, rifle and skeet shooting.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com