Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Tom Grimm, president of the Lake Linden-Hubbell Sportsmen’s Association, speaks to the Lake Linden Village Council at its meeting Thursday. The council approved the club’s plan to remove trees on the land, which it leases from the village, to build a pistol range.

LAKE LINDEN — The village of Lake Linden approved the Lake Linden-Hubbell Sportsmen’s Association’s plan to remove trees on the village-owned property they lease to create a pistol range. 

The council’s permission is required before any trees can be removed, according to its lease. 

The range would be used for both hunter education and shooting sports, said Tom Grimm, president of the Lake Linden-Hubbell Sportsmen’s Association. The range would be about 100 feet by 150 feet in a spot adjacent to the existing rifle range.

Out of 10 potential spots, a club committee identified four sites for more detailed study, according to the club’s letter to the council.

“We looked at a whole bunch of different sites, and that turned out to be the best place to put it,” Grimm said.  

Pistol shooters are currently restricted to a short extension to the rifle range. The growing number of pistol shooters has led to growing safety issues, such as a wooden wall making communication between rifle and pistol shooters more difficult. Pistol shooters are also limited to a 50-foot shooting distance, according to the club’s letter to the council. 

Under the current layout, the range cannot accommodate shooters who want to conduct action pistol matches and bullseye pistol matches. Concealed pistol license instructors also cannot use the range in its current configuration. 

The proposed site would have barriers, berms and backstops on three sides, which the club said will be high enough to block any errant shots and thick enough to contain all bullets within the range. 

The range includes separate units for action and bullseye pistol shooting. As a safety measure, the pistol range points the same direction as the rifle range, allowing all shooters to approach form the same direction. 

A survey of the site found 174 live trees, predominantly jack pine and paper birch. 

The Sportsmen’s Association is still working on lining up tree removal. They have had interest from one person in removing them, but they were busy with logging, Grimm said.