Planning continues for shooting range in Cook County

For several years now a handful of residents has been working to establish a shooting range in Cook County. Although some planning has been done about what such a facility would look like, according to organizers, a shooting range in the county is “still a dream.”

WTIP spoke with Orvis Lunke of Grand Marais, one of the people who would like to see this happen. Lunke said until a piece of land is obtained for a range, nothing will happen. Shooting range advocates have been in talks with Cook County about acquiring land from the county after it completes its land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service. However, Lunke explained that is a complicated process.

He said, “They’ve been working on this land exchange for 18 years.”

The shooting range has been in the discussion stage for almost that long. Lunke said about a decade ago another group worked to get a shooting area established. Because of the difficulty finding a location, that effort was abandoned.

Lunke is hopeful that this time organizers will be successful.

Asked if the group needs help getting things going, Lunke said, “Not at this time. Once we get some land, we’ll be asking for all kinds of help.”

Lunke added, “Our goal is to do this without county funds; without taxpayer funding.”