A longrunning fight over recreational target shooting inside the Sonoran Desert National Monument is again back on the table, with federal land managers asking the public to weigh in on rules that directly affect desert areas just west of Maricopa.

The Bureau of Land Management announced a 30-day public comment period on where and whether target shooting should be allowed inside the monument, a roughly 486,400-acre stretch of protected desert spanning Maricopa and Pinal Counties. Comments will be accepted through March 30.

For Maricopa residents, the monument sits largely in their backyard. State Route 238 cuts into its northern reaches, and rural Hidden Valley provides one of the most common access points for hikers, campers and shooters navigating BLM lands outside the city limits.

But target shooting inside the monument itself has been a moving target for years.

BLM completed a resource management plan for the monument in 2012. A federal court order in 2015 required the agency to revisit the impacts of recreational shooting, leading to a 2018 amendment that allowed dispersed shooting across about 90% of the monument. That decision was challenged in 2019.

In 2024, the agency reversed course again, scaling shooting access down to about 5,295 acres, or roughly 1% of the monument’s landmass. The most recent amendment was also challenged last year, setting the stage for the latest outreach effort.

The renewed review comes as federal officials say they are seeking to balance recreation with protection of the monument’s natural and cultural resources. The monument, created by presidential proclamation in 2001, contains extensive saguaro forests, archaeological sites and three congressionally designated wilderness areas that are closed to vehicle access and many forms of recreation.

Past debate over shooting in the monument has centered on resource damage and safety concerns. Critics have argued that gunfire threatened petroglyphs, vegetation and other protected features, while shooting advocates have pushed for broader access to public lands.

Box Canyon Recreational Shooting Site in Hidden Valley, which opened in 2022 and reopened after seasonal fire restrictions were lifted last year, remains the only federally designated recreational target shooting site in the Maricopa area.

BLM officials said the current comment period aligns with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14313, “Establishing the President’s Make America Beautiful Again Commission,” which calls for expanded recreation, hunting and fishing opportunities on public lands.

Residents can submit comments through the BLM National NEPA Register using the Participate Now option, by emailing [email protected] or by mailing written comments to the Sonoran Desert National Monument office, Attn.: RMPA EA, 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85022.