hey guys havent been keeping up on the reading lately,  had to move my lady over here from kalifornia.  good riddens.....but i return to hear that they have closed down sloan.  i thought  this type of hijacking only happened in kali.  seriously i used to shoot at a blm section of land  similar to sloan and there were many shooters using this site and they just shut it down.  i saw frist hand this happen and unless shooters/voters do something its going to happen here.  it would be a shame.  due to work i only made it to a dbs once but the people were great, a real friendly bunch.  so back to the question as i was planning to unload some rounds tomarrow, is sloan done for or what.  ps whats the plan to try to advert this loss of  the peoples resource from happening?  ps any similar  places to shoot close by?
thanks
Jimmy

HUH?

What do you mean it is shut down? You can't get off the offramp? They secured the desert out there so you can't drive out there? I don't understand...

FWIW, it's is illegal to shoot your firearm in Clark County, outside of designated areas, from what I understand anyways. So, technically, shooting out in the desert is illegal, although most people never have a problem and it seems that usually nobody would try to do anything to stop it....

col sanders,
thanks for the reply.  but according to the reading it appears that the pit at sloan is closed.  someone posted henderson pd  challenged a shooter in the area.  anyways i talked with scott stevens a co-operative ranger i might say.  from our conversation my take on this situtation is that the area was off limits to recreational shooting since 1998, due to limited resouces it was not  enforced.  any where north of the 24th township line is off limits.  the way to figure out this location is to obtain a current topo map and gps the area you want to shoot.  if i falls south of the line has an appropriate back stop and your not causing littering etc then you should be good to go.  so the question is,  where is this 24th township line located.  i do not have a topo map.  anyway they are going to be posting signs shortly on what is off limits i wish them good luck and remember they did not make these laws they are just doing their job on enforcing them.  if anyone comes up with a nice place to shoot pls share.  thanks again
jimmy

ps i am no lawer or leo, take this information with a grain of salt, refer to all  local and federal guidelines.  i only am stating this is what  i understand about the our conversation regarding the closure of "the pit" located off sloan,  if challenged by a leo i recommend to anyone that they comply with what they ask until some more solid boundaries are posted for everyones sake.  if i am in error please post the correction.  thanks again.  

There seems to be a lot of confusion about this.

Sloan CANYON NCA is off limits to shooting, not the pit.

I have actually been out at the pit with the LE rangers a few times in the last month or two and they are not running people off nor do they intend to start.  I actually mentioned the Henderson PD story to one of them and he laughed.  He said if he saw a Henderson Cop that far out of his jurisdiction, there would be hell to pay.

Is the pit and the road leading to it in danger of being closed?  Yes it is but not because of the NCA.  It's in danger because of all the shit and dumping going on out there.

Quoted: Rick, what kind of dumping? Construction debris or just stuff left behind from shooters and people like that.

As soon as you enter, there's a trench area to the north of the road in. There used to be a guy that was living out there with his trailer, truck and boat. Also, there's lots of stuff in that trench, and lots of broken concrete slabs.

There's another way in to the pit, but it's not an easy way for cars, IIRC. Did you guys ever see that depression on the east side of the 15, about a mile south of the opening? It's a hundred yards or so from the frontage road, and is plainly visible from the highway. It's filled with an inky black rock like substance, and you can even see paper targets in it. If you snake around that area, there's a path that leads into the desert. That will take you out about 200 yards south of the pit, and will meet up with the main road we use to get to the pit.

well,
i was out at the pit today doing some plinking.   saw a couple of other shooters shooting at some garbage.   closer to the north side of the moutain like that idea about cleaning up the place.  like i said im almost having a flash back the garbage thing was a big issue in closing down public shooting areas in kali, and well there were the gang bangers practicing drive bys which didnt help.  i would help with the clean up as long as it was off, usally on a weekday , i dont have a truck.  when you go to the pit you see a difference compaired to the other places on the way.  ie washing machines, computers, stoves, etc.  hey lets face it everyone likes to shoot at objects like these but unless we police our selves we are going to lose this resource.    maybe some sort of sign indicating that this is not a dump along with a phone number to contact a ranger if someone is dumping illegally, because i for one would hesitate  (see story about gangbangers) about telling someone with a loaded gun about you cant shoot that here and pick it up and take it home.  just an idea

Actually the trash is in al of the shooting areas.  A lot of people bring their old computers and other things they want to shoot up and when they are done they leave it.  It covers the gamut osf everything from old freon ( green canisters), appliances, and if you name you will probably find it out there.

We did a clean up weekend a little over a year or more ago.  Lots of help promised to show but as memory serves on saturday there was rick and one other, and on sunday it was caver and I.  WE got  a lot done.  But like holding back the tide it comes back.

This map shows the proposed closure and the PIT and the area around it are covered by this.

www.sloancanyon.org/documents.asp will give you the time lines and things yet to happen.


What can you do to keep your recreation in Sloan.
Public input is very important. The BLM is sensitive to public pressure as long as the plan is NOT finalized.  Once finalized it will be like it’s written in stone, and they won’t budge.  The most effective is to show up at one of the meetings.  Unfortunately, for many of us this is not possible.  The next best action is to write a letter.  Writing the letter will take 5 min and a $.37 stamp.   (Yes, I know email is faster, but paper is tangible and shows a major interest.)  Also a letter to one of the Nevada Senators, Reid and Ensign would not hurt either.

What will it cost you to not act, you will have to find alternate areas to shoot and ride in.  They will be farther away, take more gas and more time to get to and to get back from.  And the new areas will not be as good as Sloan is.  When you get home write that letter and let your opinion be heard.  You would be surprised how few voices it takes to be heard, make yours one of them.  Acting in your best interests only makes sense, when that happens to coincide with saving pristine desert, it becomes a “no brainer”.  

Send your comments to :
                                        Bureau of land management
                                        Charles H. Carroll
                                        Las Vegas Field office
                                        4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive
                                        Las Vegas, NV 89130

Don’t delay, let’s save our recreation and the desert and the same time.  Get that letter into the mail.


Try and be specific about the area you want to keep open to shooting

The Sloan area has been home to recreational shooters for many years. The area east of Interstate 15 Exit 25 Sloan is very popular. Based on the observations of friends and myself since June, 2000, this portion of public land serves about 15,000 to 20,000 recreational shooters per year. It is well suited for recreational shooting. The hills west of the Sloan National Conservation Area 15 are natural made berms. There is no appreciable danger to anyone in the area as the nearest subdivisions and shopping centers are several miles east of these hills. The area is ideal for this activity and has been used safely for many years for just that purpose. Target and recreational shooting is generally confined to the east side of the area east of the hills south of the Interstate 15 Sloan Exit 25. Fathers take sons and daughters out to teach them how to shoot and handle firearms safely. The type of people who use the desert east of Sloan for this purpose come from all economic, cultural and social backgrounds.


For now the pit and the adjacent areas are open to shooting, they are not closed, yet.

Don’t delay, let’s save our recreation and the desert and the same time.  Get that letter into the mail.

A lot of the larger items are suspected by the park service to be brought in by builders dumping materials and other items they don't want to pay to dump. We merely shoot at what is available. I rarely even bring targets anymore, there is so much refuse to shoot at.

On the bright side, I haven't seen any old and/or stolen cars out there in a long time. That indicates to me that either the park service is a lot faster at getting them out of there, or it is no longer being used as a dumping ground for those sorts of items.

I'm ready and willing to do a cleanup, though I think we need to consider proposing something a little less ad hoc.

Oh, and about signs... worse to have signs than not. You put up a sign, it is going to get shot to hell. That opens the floodgates for "f*ck the system" attitudes, plus demonstrates to the Harry Reid's of the world that the area MUST be closed.

I'm trying to get the Libertarian Party chapter out here to come out and clean up. They might be useful. Maybe I can convince them to do their "shoot night" with us, instead of at the range...

-Caver

i guess your right about the signs, but i think that red kiddy push ride at the entrance just about covers the attitude huh?