[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 102 (Monday, July 12, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S5746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself and Mr. Kyl):
  S. 3565. A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau of 
Land Management land in Mohave County, Arizona, to the Arizona Game and 
Fish Commission, for use as a public shooting range; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, 
Senator Jon Kyl, in introducing a bill that would convey 315 acres of 
Federal land in Arizona to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission for use 
as a public shooting range. A similar bill was introduced in the House 
of Representatives by Congressman Trent Franks last year.
  The construction of the Mohave Valley Shooting Range near Bullhead 
City, AZ, is widely supported in the tri-state region and has several 
anticipated benefits. For example, local law enforcement agencies 
support the shooting range as a way to help maintain firearms 
qualifications. Mohave Community College has a Law Enforcement Academy 
that would be significantly enhanced by this project. Also, the new 
range will reduce instances of random shooting on sensitive public 
lands which followed the closure of a former Bullhead City shooting 
facility in 1999.
  In February 2010, after an arduous 12-year planning process, the BLM 
approved an administrative conveyance of federal land for the shooting 
range under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act. This decision was 
made under an Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant 
Impact. Unfortunately, several tribal governments have appealed the 
decision to the Interior Board of Land Appeals citing cultural impacts 
to the Boundary Cone Butte, which will undeservedly delay the project 
for several more years. It is important to note that the project's 
Environmental Assessment offers several mitigation measures that 
address tribal concerns, including the installation of sound dampening 
features, requirements for noise monitoring to ensure compliance with 
State noise standards for shooting range facilities, limiting the 
facility's footprint to protect culturally sensitive lands, and 
providing for the relocation of species that would be disturbed.
  The bill we have introduced would direct the BLM to complete the land 
conveyance without further delay. It also acknowledges the 2010 
Environmental Assessment/Plan Amendment which was developed as part of 
the project's 12-year planning effort. Mr. President, the Mohave Valley 
Shooting Range project has lapsed for over a decade and the people of 
Mohave County are still waiting to break ground. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bill.
                                 ______