All will soon be ready on the firing line! Why? The reality of the long awaited local shooting range for the area has just been confirmed by DNR. Curtis Taylor, their Chief of Wildlife Resources made the announcement at last week’s Commission Meeting held at their new location in South Charleston.

He thanks the National Rifle Association (NRA) for the final icing on the cake per a substantial construction grant.

It’s been a long time coming and this is one outdoor amenity that many including the Logan Banner have beat the drum for years but never given up hope on.

Once the $25,000 grant check is cut by the NRA, there is a one-year kicker to complete the construction. That being the case, a 2010 completion date is currently the best estimate. Per Taylor and local DNR Commissioner Kenneth Wilson, the range is to be built at the Chief Logan Wildlife Management Area (WMA) to the north of the Conference Center and Lodge of the State Park of the same name and also accessible from the same U.S. 119/Corridor-G side of the mountain.

Wilson had recently indicated that the NRA performed sound testing so as confirm that guests at these highly successful park facilities would not be disturbed by gunfire.

The range is thus to be nestled strategically in a cove so as not to cause such sound disturbances.

As always, it seems that the DOH, local coal companies, conservation groups, sportsmen and our entire county and state political contingent have helped and will continue to help make this project a success.

Hint, hint …a tad of road work may be needed.

To refresh folk’s memory, the 700-acre Corridor-G addition to the public “Chief Logan” sector was negotiated by DEP as an Arch Coal/Massey Energy compensatory mitigation project to offset county or adjacent county mining impacts to streams.

The multi-million dollar lake on the other side of the mountain was similarly completed as financed by a host of other coal companies.

Hobbling on a cane per recent knee surgery, Commissioner Wilson couldn’t jump for joy but I know he was thinking about it.

Wilson, who works closely with Senator Tomblin and staff, was also instrumental in the addition of Buffalo Creek to the state trout stocking list.

As for the NRA, they had recently gotten into a bit of hot water with the bow hunting only deer hunting crowd (from Logan, Mingo, Wyoming and McDowell counties) for having conducted some surveys regarding gun deer hunting sentiments there.

If this in any way is related to their way of making amends with those folks, what a comeback.