Sadie Creek Shooting Area Proposal Is Not Feasible

John Woolley
Wednesday, February 11, 2009

After 40 years of trying to establish a public shooting area in Clallam County, advocates are now pushing a proposal for an area north of Lake Crescent at Sadie and Susie Creeks. It is proving to be environmentally unsound and should be abandoned.

A local grassroots organization, Protect the Peninsula’s Future (PPF), has requested that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) delay both its proposed public meeting on the issue and a determination of whether the proposed site should be reconveyed to the County—at least until after Clallam County has prepared an environmental impact statement for acquiring the state forest lands.

OFCO agrees and does not support a shooting range at the headwaters of Sadie/Susie Creeks. The proposal is clearly not compatible with salmon restoration efforts, and conflicts with safety concerns for nearby trail users. Heavy rainfall and poorly drained soils in the area make it likely that toxic substances, including copper and lead, will drain into crucial salmon habitat.  

The proposed site violates the most basic guidelines of the EPA’s Best Management Practices for locating a shooting range. Potential high costs to taxpayers would include liability insurance and loss of future logging revenues.  

In addition, the impacts of a shooting range could disturb Marbled Murrelets’ nesting areas and stress other wildlife.

This project is not consistent with the Growth Management Act and Clallam County’s Comprehensive Plan. OFCO has urged that the county and DNR abandon this shooting range proposal, as the public’s time and money should not prolong the inevitable rejection of this project.


Photo of Upper Sadie Creek, from Google Earth.