The committee pushing to get the state shooting complex in Park County has identified 2,050 acres of state land roughly 10 minutes south of Cody west of Wyo. Highway 120S that Forward Cody CEO James Klessens said has not been beaten by any other county in the state.

He told commissioners May 7 that after bringing a nationally renowned shooting range consultant out to the site that morning for a visit, the consultant, who was conceptualizing the site, was impressed.

"His visit this morning was summarized with the word 'wow,'" Klessens said, adding "They want something that's not just a big flat field, and we've got that in spades ... when you drop into this site, it's 'wow.’”

The local task force pushing for the complex is eager to show off the plan. On May 15 roughly 40 people attended an open house at the Cody Auditorium to get an idea of the land on the edge of the hills south of Cody.

Klessens said thanks to that land, the amenities in nearby Cody and other Park County communities, the draw of the region and the plan they're putting together, Park County is the favorite to land the complex.

“This “is ours to lose,” he said, “if we dot all our Is, cross all our Ts.”

He said it's worth the effort, as it would bring a minimum of more than $50 million a year in economic impact for the region and potentially more than $100 million.

Rep. Sandy Newsome (R-Cody) said in recent talks with state parks, legislation would be forwarded to make the complex a new state park and thus be managed and staffed by the department.

But, as Commissioner Lee Livingston said and Klessens seconded, the arrangement would work best as a hybrid public/private operation and would entail some type of local concessionaire.

“As a local entity, we can take out a lease on the state park, still control that surface,” he said. “Then hire a local gun person to be manager of the complex, who would work with the three state employees.”

Livingston compared it to the situation with Hot Springs State Park, where a private concessionaire runs the amenities.

Commissioner Scott Steward expressed some concerns with the state park plan making the area much less accessible for many people wanting to recreate there, such as dirt bikers and four-wheelers. Klessens acknowledged it would restrict some access — including to the current lessee, the Hoodoo Ranch, which won’t be able to run cows there during certain periods of the year — but the economic gains make it worth it.

He said he’s already proceeding with planning like they’re guaranteed to receive the complex.

The local state shooting complex task force members are actively working on a business plan to present at the next state committee meeting, after which state officials will go to each site to examine them.

After the state committee chooses a location, the winner will have $10 million in state funds to help design and build the facility.

Klessens said in talks with the shooting range expert the work needed to build the ranges will cost less than previously thought.

And the proposed complex will have a lot of amenities, including a welcome center in one corner for people to enter the facility, with small ranges like pistol bays, trap and skeet shooting in the vicinity. And Klessens said that like some golf courses, visitors to the facility could get a card that they could then use to pay for targets in as many areas as they wanted, then come back in and pay the bill.

“It’s kind of a self service thing,” Klessens said.

That aspect will help with the limited number of employees expected to be onsite. That limited staff also means a need for dozens of volunteers for large events, Klessens said, and they are already working on that angle as well.

He also asked for county support in widening and maintaining the gravel road off Wyo. Highway 120S and south of the Park County Landfill that would be used to access the site.

Commissioners agreed to look into what the cost would be and will consider taking action on that request at the meeting Tuesday (today). 

The State Task Force is expected to make a recommendation to the Legislature in November as to which of the nine sites to select, and a final decision is expected in March of 2025.

The shooting complex is projected to come to fruition in early 2026, assuming approval by the Wyoming Legislature in the 2025 legislative session. The state will select the preferred site and invest $10 million in state funding to complete the facility.