FORKS — The city is moving forward with a proposal to establish a practice shooting range for law enforcement that could eventually become a regional training center.
“I see this as a huge deal,” Forks Police Chief Mike Powell said Thursday.
The Forks City Council last week gave Powell the approval to pursue a land purchase for the proposed range, and Powell said he is close to selecting a site owned by Rayonier Inc.
The new range will be an upgrade from the small, unsecured gravel pit outside of Forks that law enforcement officers on the West End have used for several years for firearms practice.
The current pit, leased from Rayonier, limits the type of training and shooting the officers can do, Powell said.
It also has been frequently vandalized, he said.
The new range will include a live-fire “tire house” with a floor plan similar to a regular house and lined with double rows of dirt-filled tires.
Instructors can observe the officers from above in a safe location as they shoot at targets hidden throughout the house, Powell said.
There are only a few such practice facilities in the state, he said.
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The rest of the story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition.
