Recently in the paper a good man referred to the unofficial shooting place near 7 Mile Haines Highway as a “redneck shooting range.” At first, I was a bit offended by that comment. However, I recently drove by the area and was appalled. Trash and garbage were everywhere. There were old targets and other items shot up and left for all to see. There are a few, irresponsible shooters among us who did this. A lot of people don’t want us shooting and hunting as it is; let’s not make things worse by trashing up places we use to sight in our guns.

Like most people, I know a bit of the history of this place. It is not a real shooting range but it has been used by shooters for a long time. Volunteers donated time and equipment to clean up the area in the past. Then a few years ago the “range” was shut down to shooters. Signs were posted and the rocks that are there now were installed to keep vehicles out. The signs were just shot to pieces.

Let’s wake up, shooters, and back up the Haines Sportsman’s Association and use the real shooting range out toward the cannery and keep it clean. In this day and age, we need to clean up our act.

Robert L. Jensen