BLM proposes emergency shooting closure on West Mountain after residents report stray rounds

The Bureau of Land Management’s West Desert District told the Utah County Commission that a growing number of reports, ballistics testing and local law-enforcement findings point to recreational target shooting on West Mountain as the likely source of stray rounds impacting nearby homes.

“Our 7,700,000 acres that we administer in the West Desert … are, for the most part, open to public shooting,” BLM district manager Mike Gates said, framing the agency's goal to preserve multiple uses of the public lands while addressing public-safety concerns. BLM staff said most of the problematic activity centers near the Payson dump on the southern end of West Mountain and showed commissioners a map of an initial proposal that would affect roughly 961 acres of BLM land and 408 acres of SITLA land.

Cam Stevenson, BLM supervisory law enforcement ranger, and local police officials described repeated incidents in which rounds struck outbuildings and roofs. Genoa Mayor Marty Larson said his town commissioned ballistics work that took about a year; those results, he said, identified West Mountain as the probable origin of many of the struck rounds. Resident Dan Taylor, who said he has found about 14 bullet holes in sheds and roofs and delivered rounds to the state crime lab, told commissioners: “It's nonstop. When the shooting starts, we just go to the house. It's scary for me and my family.”

Commissioners and local mayors pressed BLM staff for alternatives to a closure. Several officials asked whether berm construction, adjusting shooting azimuths, or formalizing and improving existing ranges could reduce risks. BLM repeatedly said the current presentation is an early, adjustable proposal and that public engagement and partner coordination (including with the State Institutional Trust Lands Administration) would be part of the process.

BLM staff also warned of legal limits on emergency closures. Todd Marks, assistant field manager, said recent guidance tied to the Dingle Act allows emergency shooting closures in 180-day increments that can be renewed three times, a procedure that would yield roughly 18 months of emergency authority while a formal land-use amendment is pursued.

Sheriff's office representatives and other law-enforcement officials backed steps to reduce risk, but emphasized that closures without convenient, accessible alternatives could simply shift unsafe shooting to other neighborhoods. Commissioners asked BLM to return with refined maps and options, including interim signage and proposed alternative shooting locations, within a month.

The item was presented in a work session and no formal county action was taken at the work session; commissioners asked staff and BLM to continue coordination and return with more detailed proposals and outreach plans.