Local News Everett Herald Published: Thursday, July 29, 2004 Sultan no-shooting zone expanded By Brian Kelly Herald Writer Snohomish County Council members sent this message Wednesday to target shooters when they expanded a no-shooting zone north of Sultan: If gun enthusiasts don't start policing their own, more restrictions may be ahead. "It is imperative that those responsible firearm owners and users help those other folks to understand that everybody loses when this kind of activity takes place," Councilman John Koster said. The council expanded the no-shooting zone along Sultan Basin Road up to Spada Lake. Wade Holden, founder of Friends of the Trail, a group that helps clean up public lands, had asked for more land in the Sultan Basin to be put off limits to gun enthusiasts because indiscriminate shooters were endangering people in the woods. The shooters also have been using dumped trash for target practice, creating environmental hazards for nearby Olney Creek, Holden said. Keith Vande, a cabin owner at Lake Bronson and an avid hiker and mountain biker in the Sultan Basin, agreed. "I have seen a lot of devastation up there," he said. But safety is the main reason for more restrictions, he added, and the ban could save a life. "Shooters cannot see who's back there," he said. "We've heard bullets whizzing over our lake." Most of the land covered by the extended ban is owned by the state Department of Natural Resources. Agency officials supported the restrictions and said department employees were in danger because of the reckless shooting. Shooters have damaged trees, and department officials said as much as 80 percent of the logs sold by the state several years ago had bullet holes in them. A metal detector had to be used to find the bullets before they could be sent through the mill. Shooters also have used televisions, refrigerators, stuffed animals and cars as targets, Holden said. The council received two letters from recreational shooters who opposed the restrictions. They warned that shooters would simply move to more densely populated areas. They said safe shooting areas need to be set aside so Americans can improve their gun skills as the global war on terror continues. Councilman Jeff Sax said the added restrictions aren't something he would normally sign off on because he is a supporter of open access to public lands. But this case was different, he said. "It's a disaster," Sax said. He added that government has spent a lot of money on salmon habitat restoration. And "to have it blown apart on a seasonal basis seems somewhat wrong," Sax said. The council passed the expanded ban unanimously.