This should get all the info as of now in one post so here goes , if the other guy’s that have been involved see something that is incorrect or omitted please feel free to add in .
So here is a little history of the match . The match started in 04 when a group of mostly Denver metro area shooters got together , Zak , myself , and at least one more member here being among them , and kicked in money to purchase the material and construct the targets , stands , and position signs .
The match staff have always been volunteers and have payed the same match entry fees as all the shooters did , originally at 25 $ and then after 3 or 4 years 30 $ . Of the match fees 20 $ went to the WC , 5 $ went to cash payback , and when the fee was raised 5 $ went to an operating fund to purchase replacement steel , paint , straps , score sheets , ETC .
The WC provided no funding for the targets or match supply's and the only support provided over the life of the match was after 2 or 3 years a 1 hole shiter was brought over and a hole dug and starting last year most of the time they brought a trailer with 4 portable toilets on them when the last program director saw the number of female shooters attending the match . So for the majority of the match for letting us use the land that is unused otherwise was a couple of rolls of shit paper and a raggedy blue fiberglass hut full of bullet holes . For this they got between 200 ish , during the first couple of years , to between 700 - 1200 $ for every match we shot 8 times a year .
At the end of last year the previous Executive Director retired and a new one was appointed , Josh Adams and also a new Program director also , Ken Mestas . This wasn’t alarming at the time because the turn over rate at WC is huge . So we scheduled our matches as normal last Oct and all was still good as far as we knew .
In Feb we came down for the first match and they had changed all the locks on the gates for the whole facility , while that doesn't sound abnormal on it own they have had the same locks on the gates for the past at least 18 years and pretty much everybody in Raton has the combo . So now we had to pick up the key for the new lock before set up and return it after .
So June comes around and it is one of the months that there was an AR match on Sat morning and the normal SRM match on Sun . So during the week before the match the WC is contacted to see if there are any issues before the 3 hour trip down to set up the match and no problems were communicated . Here is were it should be pointed out that the fire had been burning for almost a months time . So Fri rolls around and the set up for the AR match is complete , as part of set up when we arrived in town and headed to Coal Canyon the WC is contacted before we go out for set up . Now back at the hotel while getting ready for dinner Ken the program director calls and we are informed that the weekends matches are canceled in Coal Canyon because of fire danger but we can pick all our stuff up and move it to the front side and hold the match there .
So for everybody who has seen the set up down there knows how absolutely ridiculous the idea that we could pick up everything and move it in 3 hours of remaining daylight is . Later the next week the match director for RM3G who is local to the area went in and spoke with the WC about the 2 gun match he runs in July and was told that Coal Canyon has been closed to competitive shooting to preserve the land for the hunters with no mention of the fire danger excuse we were given . When asked point blank about the canyon opening again after the fire danger passed the answer was no the canyon was closed permanently .
So when July came around and the supposed new spot was to be looked for the only option given was the field where we shot Magnum Rifle and no other options put forward , and again no one from WC came by and spoke with anyone about what was going on .
So last weekend all of our of our steel was removed from WC and until further notice the SRM matches are over . Speaking with the 2 asst program directors down there it appears this path is being driven by Josh and Ken and it is not only affecting SRM . It has also affected RM3G , the mountain men , and the youth adventure camp . The 2 asst match directors are stand up guys and have always treated us right and were nice to work with . But again conspicuous in their absence Josh and Ken were nowhere to be found .
One of the shooters spoke with Ken about a month ago and the gist of their conversation was he wasn’t a competitive shooter and never will and could not understand what difference the location made , They are trying to push all the shooters back on to the square ranges and cater to the hunters even though there are not any matches , or ever have been any matches that compete with hunting season because the whole WC is closed to nothing but hunters for the whole season . This is the regime change and FUDD politics at its finest because if it was about money the would not have just chased off about 40ish K worth of income just between RM3G and the SRM matches .