Dirty John, Panther Top, Moss Knob, and Atoah Shooting Ranges are popular destinations for recreational shooters. All four feature covered target shooting stations with concrete floors and earthen berms behind the targets. The USFS required improvements to all four sites that would increase safety, minimize environmental impacts, and meet ADA requirements by following the latest federal, state, and local codes.

Alpha & Omega Group provided both civil-site design and erosion control services to make the required improvements. They coordinated a topographical survey, mapped a shooting safety zone using LiDar, showing sign placement and trajectory maps for high-powered rifles, and examined the acoustic insulation on the underside of station roofs. Once investigations and surveys were completed, A&O designed ballistic sand backstops for recovering and recycling lead, increasing the berm size and height. Around the toilets, they designed concrete pads and ADA-compliant sidewalks. In order to reduce lead pollution, A&O designed “hard” runoff controls such as filter beds to collect water, screening out larger lead particles and raising the pH of the water before draining it; containment traps with vegetative cover to filter out lead bullet fragments; or dams or ground contouring to slow water runoff. Once the designs were completed, they were submitted to USFS for review. Ω