RIFLE — Colorado Parks and Wildlife is planning major improvements to the shooting range at the West Rifle Creek State Wildlife Area beginning Monday.

When completed, the improved range will provide Garfield County hunters and firearm enthusiasts with a safe, high-end public shooting area, according to a press release distributed by the outlet.

Scheduled work will improve access, parking and walking areas and includes the construction of several new rifle and pistol lanes. To allow for construction equipment and user safety, the range will be closed for approximately five to six weeks. The rest of the SWA will remain open to the public during the construction phase.

“The current range is not in the best shape and these improvements are needed,” Area Wildlife Manager JT Romatzke said.

In addition to hunters sighting in their scopes and target practice for firearms enthusiasts, the improvements will aid local law enforcement agencies by providing an appropriate and safe area for firearms training.

Romatzke adds that minor delays pushed the construction start date close to the approaching hunting seasons, but says the overall goal will be worth any inconvenience.

“If construction proceeds as scheduled, we expect that shooters can resume using the facility by the end of September,” he said.

The majority of the $150,000 project is funded with sportsmen’s dollars in addition to a small percentage coming from federal excise taxes on the sale of hunting and fishing equipment.

Alternate ranges can be found on the Internet at wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/ShootingRanges/Pages/NWRanges.aspx.