Regional News

Target shooting at Methow Wildlife Area closed to reduce wildfire risk

Aug 14, 2015

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will close its Methow Wildlife Area to target shooting Aug. 15-Sept. 14 to reduce the risk of wildfire in extremely dry conditions.

The closure applies to the public shooting range and any target shooting or practice on the 34,000-acre wildlife area in Okanogan County. The shooting closure does not affect legal hunting on the area.

Sherry Furnari, manager of the WDFW wildlife area, said the closure is warranted since two wildfires have occurred at the shooting range in recent years. The Washington Department of Natural Resources also considers the fire risk very high for the area.

Conditions will be evaluated next month to determine if the closure needs to be extended.

Like all of WDFW's wildlife areas and water-access sites across the state, the Methow Wildlife Area also has prohibitions on fireworks and incendiary devices, including tracer rounds and exploding targets, to reduce the risk of wildfire.

For more information on fire restrictions on WDFW wildlife areas and access sites, see the department's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/wildlife_areas/