U.S. Forest Service grants permit for Union County target range

UNION COUNTY, Ga – The Union County target range project can officially proceed after the U.S. Forest Service issued a special use permit.

This is the current milestone crossed for Union’s first gun range. Currently, residents and law enforcement must use private land or travel outside the community to practice their shooting skills.

The range will be located off SR 180 between mile markers 18 and 19. It will feature a 200-yard rifle range, a shorter pistol range, and clubhouse. Union County Gun Club, formed in 2017, will be responsible for the operation of the facility.

Sheriff Mack Mason has been a strong proponent for establishing a gun range, “There is a lot of target practice that takes place on Forest Service land near houses, and homeowners, in close proximity, disturb one another when shooting on their property. “I’m hoping to centralize these people, that maybe they’ll want to join this club, confine it to a particular area by shooting in a nice, safe facility.”

Mason even approached Commissioner Lamar Paris with this location for the range around two-and-a-half years ago. Paris had been looking for a suitable location for the project for five years.

Previously, the county government held three separate public hearings as required by the U.S. Forest Service to inform the public and answer any concerns. No one issued a complaint against using national forest land.

In Nov. 2019, Blue Ridge District Ranger Andy Baker issued a Final Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact. “This decision consists of authorizing Union County Government to construct a target range on National Forest lands,” Baker’s report stated.

Paris commented on the use of U.S. Forest land, “It’s not all just the campers and the hikers. That’s a big part of it – you don’t want to destroy your national forest – but this particular property
is already in the grass, so there are very few trees that will have to be cut.”

Now that the project can move ahead, Union County government officials and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will meet to discuss funding and site planning.

Site planning will take between two or three months, but it’s too early to provide a construction timeline.