The Wyoming State Shooting Complex that’s planed for a site south of Cody is moving forward in the state Legislature. Last week, the Joint Appropriations Committee included funding for the project in its budget bill. 

Obviously the budget still needs to be considered by both chambers and be signed by the governor before work can truly begin. The Park County commissioners have already interviewed many people who’d like to be on the joint powers board that would oversee the complex. 

However, the project isn’t going forward with any more county government funding than what was pledged many months ago. 

Commissioners have taken heat for a lot of things recently, including land use regulations and their decision to have a judge decide on the assessor replacement. But a new suggestion that they’ve committed $6 million in county funds to the shooting complex is simply not true.

A Cowboy State Daily story on the shooting complex’s overall price tag going up to an estimated $19.5 million included a quote from a lawmaker, who said “Park County” was adding another $6 million to the project. Social media soon lit up with criticism.

However, that’s not $6 million from the county government. Instead, the local group pushing for the complex has agreed to come up with $6 million in donations and sponsorships to cover what is not being funded by the state.

The county government is not actually giving the complex project any money directly. Instead, commissioners agreed last year to improve the county road out to the complex location – if the complex does indeed happen – with in-kind costs of up to $750,000. 

This seems to be a reasonable move by the county to assist in getting the shooting complex to Park County.

Giving the complex $6 million — nearly twice what the county has granted to help fund the new Powell Library and almost as much as a recent multi-county-building HVAC and renovation project — would certainly be worthy of serious complaints and objections from county residents. But that did not happen.

Commission Chair Dossie Overfield was busy on social media Monday night, countering the outrage by posters sharing the Cowboy State Daily story and angered by the thought the county had contributed millions more to the complex. 

“There was some false information yesterday that the commissioners had approved $6 million to the State Shooting Complex, and that is absolutely not true,” Overfield said during Tuesday’s meeting, before interviewing yet another potential shooting complex board member. 

Further, among those pushing for the state shooting complex, there’s a belief that raising $6 million is very doable.

For instance, Buffalo Bill Center of the West Firearms Museum Curator Danny Michael, who applied for a spot on the joint powers board, was optimistic after a recent trip to the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the big firearm manufacturers trade show. 

“I do think there’s opportunity to raise that $6 million,” Michael told commissioners, saying he talked with some major companies interested in large sponsorship opportunities. 

If the complex does come to fruition, the county will improve the road to it, but at this point, that’s it.