A controversial state-owned shooting range in Hartland will re-open on Thursday, following renovations and with new rules.
The Hammond Cove facility has a new berm for the pistol range and covered shooting ports now have acoustical tiles. Users 15 years and older must have valid Vermont hunting or fishing licenses or be the guest of someone who does. Shooting more than one round per second is prohibited. Long rifles or shotguns may not be fired from the pistol bench, and pistols may not be used from the rifle benches. Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter says he’s pleased with these and other changes.
“Probably the most significant of which is having the range safety officer on site,” Porter said.
“We’ve gotten a lot more use of this range than we expected when we renovated a few years ago and it’s important both for safety and for the sake of noise and neighbors that people follow the rules of the range,” he said.
Porter admits some residents across the Connecticut River in Plainfield, N.H. think the changes don’t go far enough. He says there may be future improvements as necessary to strike a compromise between range users and unhappy neighbors. Hammond Cove now has more limited hours and will be closed from Dec. 15 through March 31.
