Park’s gun ban expansion opposed

BOISE – The federal Bureau of Land Management’s plan to expand a rifle-and-pistol ban at a multipurpose Snake River bird preserve was supposed to protect Idaho National Guard soldiers who say recreational shooters have taken potshots at their tanks.

But the BLM plan for the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area is encountering opposition from the National Guard itself. Military leaders now say broadening the ban could actually make training there more dangerous, by concentrating sport shooters in an area still well within range of troops on maneuver.

The 490,000-acre Snake River preserve is an area that accommodates one of the world’s largest nesting populations of raptors – as well as gun-toting off-road vehicle enthusiasts keen on blasting ground squirrels and National Guard soldiers who have used a portion of the site for their war games since 1953.

Also involved: U.S. Rep. Bill Sali, a gun rights advocate who argues the federal agency’s aim of restricting shooting was based on emotion, not facts.

“Anytime a federal government agency decides to curtail access to public lands, we have a concern that those decisions aren’t made arbitrarily,” Sali spokesman Wayne Hoffman said Wednesday.

Sport rifles and pistols now are forbidden on 68,000 acres of the preserve, to protect bird-watchers and other recreationists, as well as cattle that graze there every spring. The BLM wants to extend the ban to an additional 41,000 acres, concentrated on the northern half of the National Guard’s Orchard Training Area.

But Idaho National Guard leaders, including Maj. Gen. Lawrence F. LaFrenz, argue the BLM’s plan would just push shooters farther south – even closer to where his soldiers do most of their training.

“It could increase the concentration of shooters,” said Lt. Col. Stephanie Dowling, a Guard spokeswoman.

Prairie falcons and eagles soar over the preserve, hunting the ground squirrels that pop their heads above the grass and sage. With just two BLM agents to patrol 4 million acres of desert near Boise, however, gun enthusiasts regularly defy the current 68,000-acre ban on rifles and pistols – shooting squirrels, protected birds and even cattle, preserve officials say.