New Sutton shooting range aims to curb lawlessness, but some worry it will bring new woes

What you need to know:

• Mat-Su Borough officials plan to build a shooting park, restrooms and a campground in the Jonesville Public Use Area by 2027 to reduce unregulated gunfire and dumping on a section of the 16,000-acre site near Sutton. The project may be funded through grants or property taxes.
• Supporters say the park will improve safety and organization by providing a legal alternative for target shooting while curbing dangerous and destructive behavior. Opponents, including some nearby residents, say the location is too close to homes and will bring unwanted noise.
• An open house is scheduled for Jan. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Sutton Elementary School. Public comment is also open.

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SUTTON – Mat-Su officials are moving forward with a plan for a new shooting park in a public use area known for indiscriminate gunfire and trash dumping – even as some residents worry it will attract more unwanted noise.

Once known for coal mining, the Jonesville Public Use Area near Sutton has long been a magnet for lawlessness. While some individuals use portions of the 16,000-acre area for safe target practice, others engage in “lawless behavior,” according to one borough management plan – dumping and shooting appliances, burning cars, and hosting raucous parties. At least one person has died as a result of unregulated shooting there.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials say a new shooting park, restrooms and a developed campground at the end of a popular dirt road about two miles north of a residential area just off the Glenn Highway could help bring order and oversight to the chaos. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, depending on funding and a state regulatory process, officials said.

The project is a partnership between the state Department of Natural Resources, which owns the land and oversees its use, and the borough, which plans to manage construction and pay for the effort through borough funds, which could include property taxes and grants.

The gun range will be built on a slice of land already regularly used for unregulated shooting just off Slipper Lake. Its design and the configuration of shooting lanes are open to public feedback through an ongoing comment period and a series of three open house events. The third and final open house is scheduled for late this month.

Chris Spitzer, a Sutton resident and former Sutton Community Council member who has helped spearhead community involvement in managing the area, said he supports the project because it will reduce dumping and dangerous behavior while still giving residents a place to shoot. The proposal has also received broad support from other local residents.

But some disagree. Opening a designated shooting park will make the area a magnet for even more gunfire and the noise that comes with it because it will draw new users, said Carl Wambach, who lives off Seventeen Mile Lake, within earshot of the shooting.

Instead, he said, the borough should expand capacity at the region’s existing shooting range about 25 miles away in the Knik River Public Use Area near Palmer, and discourage dangerous behavior by developing portions of Jonesville into a maintained park space.

“Putting a shooting range right next to town in a residential area – it’s got to be about the dumbest thing I have ever heard,” Wambach said. “Put a nice park there, put up a couple of basketball hoops, improve the camping areas next to the lake—you know, make it a place that you can ride your bicycle.”

Angie Wade, cultural and historic preservation director for the Sutton-based Chickaloon Traditional Council, said the new range could help address the problem of uncontrolled shooting, but she worries it might push those unwilling to follow rules into other areas.

“A lot of us don’t feel safe because people come into our community and don’t know where people live, and they just shoot,” she said. “But the culture here – this is a kind of a free-for-all, and I’m worried that once they make this range, shooters might find other places.”

Other nearby residents said they like the idea of the park and the order it could bring – but think the borough is putting it in the wrong place.

Timothy Clark, who lives a few miles from Slipper Lake and runs a vacation rental near his home, said the range will create a major problem for his business because of the uptick in noise it will likely bring. He said the borough should place the facility farther into the public use area behind a rise known as Wishbone Hill, which would serve as a sound block.

Borough officials said the Wishbone Hill spot isn’t under consideration because improving and maintaining the existing narrow trail to create needed access would be too expensive. But Clark said he believes there are ways around that.

“How about spending the money to do it right, or making the people who use it pay for it? Why should I pay my taxes to have something annoying the s— out of me?” he said. “They’re using safety and lawlessness as an excuse to cram a shooting range down our throats. People in the Valley have plenty of places to shoot – but people who live here only have one place to live.”

Individuals can submit comments about the proposal through a borough website. A final planning-process open house is scheduled for Jan. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Sutton Elementary School.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

This story was updated Jan. 7 to clarify that funding may be found through grants or property taxes.