Weigh In on Winchester Gun Club
Comments Now Accepted on Permit for West Camino Cielo Shooting Range
Years ago, when the Winchester Canyon Gun Club tried to renew a 20-year special use permit for its shooting range on West Camino Cielo, concerns about the disruption of sacred Chumash sites nearby as well as the pollution from lead ammunition forced the Los Padres National Forest officials back to the drawing board to produce a more thorough analysis.
This week, that work was released, showing a reduction in permitted size from 140 acres to 96, the permanent elimination of the long-bore range over the Chumash sites while minimizing impacts to the “greatest extent possible” in that area, and a new plan for minimizing the spread of lead and managing its regular cleanup. Public comments are now being accepted on the plan, and can be sent to Los Padres National Forest, 6755 Hollister Avenue, Suite 150, Goleta, CA 93117, Attention Jeff Bensen, emailed to comments-pacificsouthwest-los-padres-santa-barbara@fs.fed.us, or faxed in to (805) 561-5729.
