Baker Draw Designated Shooting Area to close briefly for weed treatment

Reghan Cloudman, Public Affairs Specialist

AULT, Colo. (March 19, 2018) – The Baker Draw Designated Shooting Area will be temporarily closed all day March 21 while treatment takes place, weather permitting. If treatment can’t take place on March 21, it may occur on March 28.

A Forest Service contractor will be applying pre-emergent herbicide to help reduce non-native invasive species at the site. These weeds pose both an ecological threat and a fire danger. The species being targeted include Russian thistle, Kochia, bindweed and cheatgrass.

Herbicide will be applied to all backstops and a 12-foot buffer strip from the side of the interior berms into the floor of the shooting lanes. A blue dye will be used in the herbicide to help track where spraying has occurred. The blue dye will last about a week and visitors to the shooting area are asked to stay off of these treatment areas. Walking in this area can limit the effectiveness of the treatment.

Additional information about recreational shooting, including the rules and regulations, on the Grassland is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/targetshooting. With recent dry weather, please take safety precautions and be mindful that hot projectiles and sparks from ricochets can ignite fires in dry grassy areas and in other dry brushy fuels. And remember, exploding targets and tracer bullets are always illegal.

Information about the Baker Draw Designated Shooting Area is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/bakerdraw.

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