PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has awarded $87,550 to six grant applicants for the construction, improvement, enhancement, or expansion of public shooting ranges located throughout the state.

The Shooting Range Grants Program, administered by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, was established in 1996 to encourage the development and improvement of shooting ranges in Arizona. Public shooting ranges offer important venues for safe target shooting (recreational and scholastic), teaching firearm safety, hunter education, as well as law enforcement training.

The recipients of 2009 fiscal year Shooting Range Grants are:

• Ralph C. Herrera Shooting Range (Mammoth): $15,000 to construct safety berms.
• Pima Pistol Club (Tucson): $28,000 to purchase and construct a facility for education, training and meetings.
• Northeastern Arizona Sportsman’s Association (St. Johns): $4,500 for construction of a skeet and trap field at the Northeastern Arizona Shooting Range.
• Ft. Huachuca Shooting Range – Huachuca Hot Shots (Sierra Vista): $7,300 to expand and develop a 5-stand and sporting clays range.
• Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club (Wickenburg): $8,000 for the purchase of 5-stand sporting clays machines.
• Town of Fredonia – Fredonia Public Shooting Facility (Fredonia): $24,750 to begin construction of a range including constructing earthen berms, covered shooting stations, security fences and an information kiosk.

“We are very happy with the number of applications and projects that we received this year – particularly in areas outside of the Phoenix metro area,” says Anthony Chavez, the department’s statewide shooting ranges administrator. “This grant program allows us to ensure that there are safe and functional shooting ranges throughout the state.”

The department received 11 grant applications for fiscal year 2009. Applications were judged by a panel of department employees on various criteria. The six finalists were presented and approved by the commission at its June 28 meeting in Phoenix.

Grants are available through a competitive application process each year. Privately owned and for-profit ranges are not eligible for this program. Applications for fiscal year 2010 will be available on October 1, 2008. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15, 2009.

For more information, visit www.azgfd.gov/shootingsports and click on the “Range Development Grants” link on the left side of the page, or contact the department’s Statewide Shooting Ranges Administrator, Anthony Chavez, at (623) 236-7395 or aechavez [at] azgfd [dot] gov.