Over the past several years, efforts to create a recreational shooting range in the Santa Fe area have faced numerous challenges.

There is a significant degree of agreement among local governmental bodies, sportsmen and women groups, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and the land management agencies regarding the need for a safe and well-managed shooting facility in the area.

The Bureau of Land Management’s plan to establish three shooting facilities, while ambitious, is a good sign that the agency at least wants to help with the community’s needs and wants. There is an area on the Caja del Rio plateau that has served as a version of a shooting range; while it isn’t managed or monitored, the fact remains that shooting on BLM land is a legal activity.

The need for more than one facility may be evident, but the reality is the area currently doesn’t have one at all. I think one alternative would be that the BLM, in cooperation with the Department of Game and Fish and other local governments, should establish one range and build upon its success.

Many times, land management agencies have good intentions when planning such undertakings, but the size and scope of the project may be too vast to ever come to fruition. Keeping the project manageable will provide a significant opportunity for success and a foundation to work from. Considering the logistics, availability of contractors, funding and, most of all, availability of acceptable locations, the BLM and its partners should start with one shooting range and build from there.

While not everyone can agree on one place for any shooting facility, we all agree on the need for such a facility. Any kind of management and protection of the area would be better than the current situation.

Acknowledging the concerns of the residents near the area, tribal interests and the community in general, we know not everyone is going to be happy with the location that is eventually selected for the facility. We must ask ourselves, “What’s the alternative?” There are threats that are inherent with leaving things as they are and consequences if we do nothing.

The movement to protect this landscape could take years, and it may be years we don’t have. Vandalism, pollution and degradation of this place should not be an option any concerned citizen or stakeholder should consider. We are at a critical moment in time, and the decisions we make today, or the lack thereof, will be our gift to future generations.

Max Trujillo is the senior New Mexico field coordinator of HECHO, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors. Harry Montoya is a former Santa Fe County commissioner and member of the Conservation Leadership Council.