For months the San Luis Obispo shooting range has been silent and empty.
On Dec. 31, 2024, the SLO Sportsmen’s Association’s contract to manage the 488-acre property ended, and a state audit found that the organization had violated terms of its contract. As of May 5, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) hadn’t established new property managers, leaving local shooters frustrated at the current loss of space.
The SLO Sportsmen’s Association (SLOSA) managed the range starting in 2018, and a member, who goes by BK, said that for many years he’d helped to maintain the property and people would drive from all over the county to use the shooting range’s facilities, raving about how well it was managed and kept up.
“We would do whatever it took to help the range become or be successful, and to provide a venue for people for whatever reason, whether it was a discipline of training, in the case of law enforcement, corrections, some people with PTSD, believe it or not,” he said. “It was a form of stress relief for them, or a form of therapy. … So, these are all things that were taken away on the back range and the front range that these people pretty much gave their life to, and that’s the sad part.”
For four months, the range has been vacant as CDFW has yet to award a new contract to maintain the property. According to CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist David Hacker, the agency had hoped to award a new contract by Jan. 1, but new state regulations delayed the process.
Located at 3270 Gilardi Road, between SLO and Morro Bay off Highway 1, the range offers facilities for firearms and archery. According to the CDFW, the property was designated as a wildlife area by the Fish and Game Commission in 1984 specifically for public shooting.
SLOSA member BK said the situation is sad, and he felt like Fish and Wildlife had intended to close the range following a March 2024 audit.
“All that is shut down right now as we speak, but it doesn’t need to be. So, there’s some retaliation for some reason,” he said. “There’s no other way you could really slice and dice this.”
He said he blamed CDFW Environmental Scientist Hacker, who he believed was either “anti-firearm” or “extremely vindictive.”
There were times before the 2024 audit, BK said, when Hacker would criticize the Sportsmen’s Association for the way it collected membership fees, for allowing maintenance staff to live on the property, or for unmaintained vegetation around the shooting targets.
BK suggested that Hacker had taken issue with how the association charged guests the appropriate fees. For the general public, the fee is $20. For youth, instructors, and members, it’s $10. BK said the only way to give instructors and members the discount was to ring them up as youth.
“So good old Hacker, he takes it upon himself to misinterpret that as someone being disingenuous,” BK said.
CDFW also found the association to have violated its contract by allowing a groundskeeper to sleep on the premises without its knowledge, but BK said this was something that had happened for years and had never been an issue.
“They had a groundskeeper that lived in a double-wide right next to the range on the north side, and he lived there, and he also provided security, which was great. Didn’t cost anybody anything,” BK said. “Then this individual left, and they brought in another person who did both security and maintenance, made sure the restrooms were stocked—you know, doubled as a janitor, basically, and didn’t charge anybody.”
In total, the audit found SLOSA to have violated terms of charging members unauthorized discounted rates and allowing people to live on the range without Fish and Wildlife’s consent, according to CDFW Information Officer Krysten Kellum.
“Despite CDFW’s best efforts and regular communication, the San Luis Obispo Sportsmen’s Association failed to correct some of these violations,” Kellum said via email.
But BK said he perceived the audit as a way for the scientist to close the range and keep the property as “his own private wildlife reserve,” which would go against the land’s declared usage.
CDFW Scientist Hacker told New Times that this was a “misconception,” and he specified he had not conducted the audit himself.
Information Officer Kellum called the accusations against Hacker “false and unsubstantiated.”
“CDFW was made aware of SLOSA’s contract violations, which subsequently prompted the audit,” she said via email.
Under state and federal regulations, Hacker said, the agency walks the line of maintaining the property as a range and wildlife area.
“The only reason that the state agreed to own the property was for operating a public shooting range, and the two types of properties that the department owns are ecological reserves and wildlife areas,” Hacker said. “So, this is in the wildlife area category. … We have to follow the wildlife area regulations, regardless of the fact that it’s a shooting range, but it’s primarily managed for public shooting opportunities, and that will continue to be the case.”
Hacker also said that the timing of the audit and end of the contract aren’t related, and that Sportsmen’s Association could reapply to manage the range.
“The contract terminated because it just timed out. That was the end of the term in December. So, it didn’t close because of contract violations. It closed because we’re having to renegotiate a new contract internally and with our other agencies that we have to work with to get contracts through, and that’s just taken longer than expected,” he said.
Hacker said the delay in awarding
a new contract was due to “new expectations,” although he didn’t specify what those were.
“Expectations about how a contract should be structured have evolved, and that’s for all state contracts, and that’s what we’re trying to navigate with this unique scenario that isn’t a typical fit for a contract,” Hacker said. “So, our contract templates are really set up to have somebody provide a service. … It’s just a little bit different conceptually than, for example, hiring somebody to build a bridge on a state highway. … I’ll just leave it at that.”
Once CDFW can determine new contract requirements, it will accept bids for 45 days and award the contract.
SLO Sportsmen’s Association’s BK said that until the range is open, Fish and Wildlife is doing the community “harm.”
“Unfortunately, everyone in this county, whether you’re a firearm enthusiast, an archery enthusiast, … you don’t have a place to do that. … You can’t learn discipline, you can’t learn safety, you can’t learn situational awareness,” he said. “Words can’t describe the harm [CDFW has] done to the people of this county and even adjacent counties.” Δ
Reach Staff Writer Libbey Hanson at lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in May 8-18, 2025.
Sounds like the whole thing could’ve been avoided if SLOSA abided by the terms of their lease. The unnamed member, BK, seems to be under the impression that because the landlord is a public entity, the tenant can do whatever they want regardless of the terms the club agreed to.
This range operated for years with volunteer service, donations, membership fees, donated construction and building supplies. The new 2018 California Department of Fish and Wildlife contract with SLOSA required upgrades to the property including ADA upgrades and no additional funding supplied by the state. All the money collected after 2018 went directly to CDFW with repayment to SLOSA exceeding 90 days, and CDFW was no longer allowed SLOSA to collect membership fees. It appears that CDFWs long term goal is to shut down the public range.
Five months have gone by and still no advertisement for a new range operator.
CDFW appears to have little concern about the public shooting range and would rather it reverted to a wildlife preserve..
I personally used the range several times a week. When my grandchildren were visiting or friends I would take them out for target shooting or archery. A wonderful facility used by many different people. It definitely needs to reopen!
I am a low income nonwhite American with a nonwhite mix race family of 4, who would take my family to that range because it is PUBLIC and unlike the PRIVATE ranges could not deny us entry or membership. It was the only range in which I could familiarize and train my family in the proper safety and use of the firearms my family possessed.
The shuttering of this PUBLIC range ensures that non white and/or low income residents have no place to train, practice, and enjoy their firearms.
This is a travesty and affront to the community at large. If needs be we will go into the mountains to train, practice, and enjoy a NATURAL RIGHT of all Americans and risk jail for doing so, all because we have no PUBLIC Shooting Range.
Three unanswered questions:
First, the Tribune published the findings of the CDFW audit where they found the lead abatement of the range was neglected throughout the contract. That area has a runoff creek that leads to the MB Estuary, that happens to have high levels of lead. Has anyone looked into a correlation between this contamination and the neglected range clean up? Who would be responsible, CDFW that owns the property or those contractually obligated to ensure the abatement took place?
Second, that same article from the Tribune showed that SLOSA owed the CDFW $385000 for knowingly subverting the fee schedule. along with all the other contract violations-and they are still able to bid for state contracts? In addition, SLOSA continued to take membership fees from the community for approximately $50,000 well after being informed they must stop the practice of “discounts.” At $80 a membership. how many people were possibly defrauded by these folks? Has anyone asked the District Attorney if this was a violation of any kind?
Lastly, on the subject of transparency. Dave Hacker, the CDFW representative and biologist, was directly responsible for overseeing that property. How long did all this continue with no oversight from the contract manager? Hacker also has made some public statements that seem to be of question. Hacker told the Tribune that part of the range was closed off because it was an archaeological site. Review of the criteria and known sites in this county and state have revealed this may be a falsehood. Maybe, folks more attune to this subject could research this public claim.
Sadly, CDFW is losing 25k-50k income per month. CDFW is currently in validation of SLO County Weed-Abatement standards. CDFW could have simply renewed the contract with new amendments to SLOSA. But the real tragedy is lost of a “A Senior Recreation Center .” Some Seniors Lawn Bowl, we shoot . Our discipline is Precision Marksmanship Target shoot. And, our ages is in the 60’s to the 80’s. We are running out of time. CDFW would rather be “right” than being of service to SLO County residents….so sad…….
So,looking beyond where the finger is pointed…the question that needs a concrete answer is the actual timeline for the CDFW to finish determining the new contract requirements. We are coming up on 6 months of closure as of tomorrow. I understand that state contract requirements can be arduous & time consuming, but it’s been 6 months. In that span of time, all that can be said is it’s been delayed due to “new expectations”…yet they haven’t been able to determine the new contract requirements. If they have new expectations for the contract, why aren’t they specified? This isn’t rocket science we’re talking about here…and FWIW, rocket science has progressed at a faster pace over the last 6 months than this contract.
The SMPD managed to secure funding, permits, land and complete construction of their own private outdoor range at the Las Flores Ranch in ~10 months, but CDFW can’t finish drafting a contract for an existing range in 6?
Come on now…
Just open it please. Must every govt hack impose their personal agenda on every public service, to the detriment of the taxpaying citizen? Open it. Now. Make changes and upgrades while its open. Argue while its open. Retire the current hack, replace with new hack, while remaining open. Same with parks, beaches, freeways, lakes, etc. While govt hacks argue and scheme, the service remains open. Im reminded of a bridge, closed by a vindictive govt hack at rush hour. Dont be the Chris Christie of SLO. Open it. Resolve the non-issues in borrrring meetings while the range is open and serving the public. Or declare the national forest re-opened to recreational shooting as it was for 100 yrs prior to the current illegal restriction imposed by yet some other unknown hack in a suit. Open. The. Range. Now. Please.
I’ve seen white trucks at the range and some mowing was done. One day the hot range flag was up at the Hogue range , but no announcement of any kind to the public.
It would be in the interest of public safety to reopen the range as people are going to shoot somewhere so it should be in a safe place.
I miss the place being open. I shot there both at the public side and the Hogue range a few times a month.
I am a professional Environmental Scientist/Biologist who works for the state and as a kid worked summers at SLOSA. I understand that they committed fraud and broke many rules of their contract. I also think that contract was not sustainable financially for operating a range in the state of California when ammunition costs so much, fire firearms cost so much (now with an additional 11%), and then asking for $30 entry fee and no membership… And the entry fee is a day pass… Come on now. As a millennial, I can’t afford that guys. Give us a less expensive, lower time amount pass, or a pass for so many days in the year when you need it. Regardless, SLOSA signed the contract and they broke it.
The shame is now this place is closed and it hasn’t re-opened and ITS DEER SEASON and we have no where in SLO County to go to zero in our rifles and responsibly train for deer/bear/hog hunting. This is only leading to more hunters target shooting in the national forest and BLM land, which means more lead (illegal, I don’t do this) and more trash and more fire hazards in our forest.
I know the state needs a lot of time to set these things up, I work for the state in an environmental scientist position, but we desperately need CDFW to open this range at least in a limited capacity for hunters only so we can get our gear dialed on. God dang I thought we were going to have it open prior to August.
I know a few people trying to bid on the new contract.. I hope we can find a way to make it more affordable.