Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
October 2025
Hunters and Shooters Fund and Celebrate
Range Remodel in Juneau
Mike Janes grew up in Juneau and learned to shoot a hunting rifle at the Hank Harmon Public Range. A couple decades later, he brought his two sons to the free, open-year-round community range to develop their rifle skills. Now, in great anticipation of an upcoming moose hunt, he is teaching their younger sister to shoot.
This is a tradition for families in Juneau that hunt. The Hank Harmon range, built in 1960, is the only practical option for practicing with hunting rifles in Juneau. Over the years, the range has experienced heavy use - and Juneau’s pounding rains - and by the 2020s was in serious need of renovation. Extensive repairs and upgrades were done in the summer of 2025 and the range reopened in late September.
“It’s way better,” Janes said. “It’s much better for kids and for learning how to shoot.”
Nearly a million dollars in improvements transformed the range. The money came from an Alaska Department of Fish and Game Pittman-Robertson Hunter Access Grant. The Department contributed 90 percent to the project. The city of Juneau contributed a 10 percent match, about $100,000. The Hunter Access program funds come from federal taxes generated by the sale of firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment.
“Everybody who buys firearms or ammunition or hunts, you made this happen,” said Ryan Scott, director of the Department’s Division of Wildlife Conservation. Scott spoke at the official ribbon-shooting ceremony opening the range on Sept. 26.
This is true all over the country. These funds support the operation of 861 public ranges across the country, with seven in Alaska that are either operated by or funded by Fish and Game.
Before firing the ribbon-cutting shots, Juneau assembly member Wade Bryson said, “I have really fond memories of this shooting range. I think about how many of my family members learned to shoot here. I think this range is a necessary city amenity because of how many people in Juneau hunt.”
Mike Janes picks his daughter up from school and they drive out to the range about once a week. “We go after school and before dinner, it’s a good time to be out there.”
He said he particularly appreciates the new shooting benches and seats. “They’re really solid. They’re cement and steel and very adjustable.” He said being able to set up a beginner in a comfortable, stable shooting position is important.
He also appreciates the new safety features. “They have this good system with flags for when people are down range checking targets – it’s especially good for the 400-yard shooting distance.”
TJ Womack learned to shoot at the range in recent years, when the need for repairs was serious. Womack said the improvements are much appreciated. The old, smaller gravel parking lot was riddled with potholes and is now expanded and paved with designated parking spots.
“The parking lot was bumpy, bumpy, bumpy and it’s so much better. The restroom facilities are really nice. The work they’ve done is amazing.”
Island Contractors, based in Juneau, did the work. The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) Parks & Rec/Public Works served as the project lead and managed the bid and awarded the project to a local contractor. ProHNS LLC was the engineering firm hired by CBJ who completed permitting, design, and construction management.
“They were on an aggressive schedule,” said CBJ Project Manager Nick Druyvestein. He said the project represents about three years of work, with multiple partners and a lot of moving parts. That behind-the-scenes work culminated this spring. The range closed to shooters April 28 and the construction, earth-moving, rolling, grading and installations occurred this spring and summer.
“There were weather issues as you might expect in Juneau but we kept on schedule,” he said. “We knew hunters would need the range and did not want to delay the opening.”
One long-running issue with the range has been keeping it clean.
“People bring pallets and other things to fasten targets to, but the problem is they’re often left behind so it’s good to bring something that’s easy to take home,” Druyvestein said.
On the afternoon of the opening, one shooter showed up with three large cardboard boxes, folded flat. He quickly opened them up, folded down the flaps and taped them in place, then affixed his targets.
“I’ll throw some rocks in the bottom so they don’t tip,” he said. “They’re easy clean up and take because they fold back up.”
“Our priorities are for it to be clean and safe,” said Hank Harmon Board President Weston Moore. “These improvements make it safe. It’s up to us now to make sure it stays clean.”
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