Hunting-shooting equipment tax dollars go to help build new Ohio public archery range

An infusion of more than $24,000 in federal funds has helped the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife stay on target with a new state-of-the-art archery range.

The new range actually was dedicated in October though the U.S. Department of Interior has gotten around to announcing that it chipped in $24,084,830 toward the $138,000 Fallsville Wildlife Area Archery Range project.

Federal dollars are being channeled via the U.S. Department of Interior/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program as part of a reimbursement format for approved projects.

In turn this program is fueled by a federal excise tax on many pieces of shooting, hunting and fishing gear along with archery tackle.

In the Midwest alone the federal government will distribute $24 million out of a fiscal pot totaling $224 million.

Ohio’s most recent share will be the fifth most awarded to eight Midwest states, said Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Joanna Gilkeson.

The Fallsville archery range complex is found within the 1,382-acre Fallsville Wildlife Area, which itself is located about seven miles north of Hillsboro and just south of the area’s headquarters off  Careytown Road in Wildlife District Five (Southwest Ohio).

Wildlife Division spokeswoman, Susan Vance says the range’s extensive archery-related amenities include 14 shooting ranges at 10, 20, 30 and 40 yards as well as one range at 50 yards, an elevated shooting platform and a broad-head pit.

“The shooting line, the parking lot all of the walkways, target paths and restrooms are mobility accessible, built in compliance with the Americans with Disability Act’s standards as well as being paved,” Vance said.

The project is just one component of the Wildlife Division’s comprehensive range development program. It was identified by the agency’s shooting range committee “as a priority based on the surrounding population, public hunting ace, and current archery range availability,” Vance said also.

 “An area has been dedicated for archers to bring their 3-D targets as well,” Vance says. “And the hours are accommodating, too: dawn to dusk with the range open every day.”

Not lost either is that the entire compound is free, Vance said as well.

“The Wildlife Division will maintain the range but we can’t thank enough all of the volunteer hours logged and reported by our volunteer hunter education instructors and conservation club volunteers,” Vance said.

 

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

Jeff is the retired News-Herald reporter who  covered the earth sciences, the area's three county park systems and the outdoors for the newspaper. During his 30 years with The News-Herald Jeff was the recipient of more than 100 state, regional and national journalism awards. He also is a columnist and features writer for the Ohio Outdoor News, which is published every other week and details the outdoors happenings in the state.