Home News ACHP Recommends Against Siting Shooting Range Near Historic Landscape

WASHINGTON, DC – Due to the cultural importance of Boundary Cone Butte to American Indian tribes, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) today recommended that a proposed shooting range be located at another site to mitigate adverse effects to the historic locale.

The recommendation came in final comments issued by the ACHP to Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is contemplating turning land in its stewardship over to the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) for siting the Mohave Valley (Tri-State) Shooting Range. (To view the entire text of the letter to Sec. Kempthorne, click here).

The ACHP administers the Section 106 process of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires that all federal agencies consider the impact of their undertakings on historic properties before taking actions that may adversely affect their historic qualities.

Under Section 106, the BLM has been consulting with the AGFD, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, Hualapai Indian Tribe, Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), the ACHP, and other interested organizations and individuals on the proposed authorization to construct the shooting range on BLM land in Mohave County, Arizona. The range would be constructed after ownership of the land transfers from the BLM to AGFD. Concerns about the adverse effects center on the visual and auditory impacts on Boundary Cone Butte and the related larger valley landscape that is of religious and cultural significance to the Fort Mohave and Hualapai tribes.

This project had been under consideration by BLM for a decade. After two years of consultation under Section 106, the BLM determined that further attempts to reach agreement would not be productive and terminated the consultation process in accordance with Section 106 procedures and requested the ACHP provide formal comment. On Oct. 21, 2008, ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III, conducted a series of meetings with stakeholders to better understand the issues. As part of the deliberative process, the ACHP invited public participation through Federal Register notice and invitations to known interested parties.

About the ACHP: The ACHP is an independent federal agency that promotes the preservation, enhancement, and appropriate productive use of the nation’s historic resources, oversees the Section 106 process of the National Historic and advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy. It also provides a forum for influencing federal activities, programs, and policies that affect historic properties. Additionally, the ACHP has a key role in administering the Administration’s Preserve America Initiative.

Posted November 14, 2008

Return to Top