By By DAVID RAINER: Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
 
Live in the Marengo County area and need a place to sight in your deer rifle or get in a little practice shooting clays? If so, you're in luck. The Marengo Public Shooting Range, located just off County Road 44 north of Linden, opened last week - the culmination of a partnership formed between the Marengo County Commission and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division (WFFD).
The opening of the Marengo range marks the 11th such facility operated solely or jointly by the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries' Wildlife Section.
“Most of the shooting ranges we have are on our Wildlife Management Areas, where we have people who can maintain the ranges,” explained Gary Moody, Wildlife Section Chief. “When we move into an area where we don't have those facilities nearby, it takes partners to make things happen. Somebody has to mow the grass; somebody has to open and close the gate; somebody has to watch things to make sure the range is running like it's supposed to. Partnerships, like this one, are what make that happen.