PAWNEE NATIONAL GRASSLAND — A spent round from a 9mm handgun rested in the palm of Lt. Andrew Zollner last week as the wind buffeted men from the 994th Engineering Company.

Zollner found the casing in a fence post. Nearby, his U.S. Army Reserve unit is carving out a roughly 1-acre section of the Pawnee National Grassland so people will have a safe, secure spot to shoot guns.

Zollner said the discovery of the bullet didn’t surprise him. After all, he was surrounded by road signs and fences peppered with bullet holes.

“We’ve heard people say they’ve found rounds in their houses out here,” Zollner said. “Maybe when we’re finished with this, people will come here and shoot and not where they are not supposed to be.”

That’s the hope of federal, state and local officials along the Front Range as they struggle to create niches for a growing tide of shooters itching for a spot to squeeze off a few rounds.

It’s not easy as urban areas overtake outdoor ranges in the Denver area and leave just a handful of indoor areas open to the public, said Richard Abramson, president and CEO of the Centennial Gun Club in Centennial.

“You get the urban areas slowly growing and moving out,” Abramson said. “That urban creep along with the noise complaints and as the city grows it puts a lot of those operations in jeopardy.”

Public opposition grew so loud against a shooting range proposal near Firestone earlier this year that developers withdrew their application. The proposal from Second Amendment Firearms Experience drew heavy crowds, with opponents worried about noise and safety.

On the other end of the spectrum, Centennial Gun Club opened last year with little rancor. The facility offers an indoor range that offers extensive training as well as a retail store.

The business is doing well because it caters to lunchtime crowds as well as a burgeoning number of women, Abramson said.

“We have a ladies night twice a week, and it attracts a lot who have never shot a firearm in their lives but want to get involved in shooting sports,” he said.

State wildlife officials know there is high demand for shooting areas, but tight budgets prevent Colorado from getting into the range-building business, said Jennifer Churchill, spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

“Shooting ranges are a large expense, and it’s something we can’t do by ourselves,” said Churchill.

However, the state encourages different groups to work together to develop shooting ranges and gun clubs that teach responsible shooting, Churchill said. “We want people to learn to shoot safely and have an opportunity to shoot.”

Two shooting range proposals, both in northern Colorado, are attracting attention because of their size and scope.

The Army Reserve, as part of a training exercise, is building a shooting area near the intersection of County Roads 96 and 63 on the wind-swept 193,060-acre Pawnee National Grassland.

Once done, the site will include a parking lot, dirt berms, 30 shooting lanes with 26 shooting benches, an information kiosk and, potentially, shade covers.

It will be open from dawn to dusk, grassland spokeswoman Reghan Cloudman said.

The NRA pitched in $25,000 while Colorado Parks and Wildlife contributed $97,000 to construct the site, which is likely to attract shooters from throughout the region, she said.

“We hope people will use it, because we know the demand is out there,” Cloudman said.

Several groups have worked over the past few years to develop the site in hopes of quelling the use of illegal target shooting at the the grassland. Also a problem is the prevalence of illegal tracer bullets in the area.

Tracer bullets were linked to several fires last year at the grassland, Cloudman said.

Most people who bring their guns to the Pawnee are responsible and adhere to park rules, she said. “There are always those who don’t follow the rules, and that causes a problem.”

“Hopefully, everyone will use the shooting range and that will help keep the problems to a minimum,” she said.

The other shooting range proposal is in Johnstown, where the owners of USA Liberty Arms in Fort Collins want to open a 100,000-square-foot building near Interstate 25 and U.S. 34 that would include five indoor firing ranges, all underground.

The $18 million Liberty Firearms Institute would also include a gun store, restaurant, classrooms and separate shooting ranges for pistols and rifles.

It’s most likely the largest facility of its kind in the state and, perhaps, the country, said Tracey Ryk, a broker associate with The Group Inc. Real Estate.

“It’s stunning how amazing this range is,” Ryk said. The facility would house about 60 firing lanes and could generate $10 million annually.

Plans boast of a state-of-the-art air- filtering system that easily meets all federal air-quality standards for lead and other pollutants, Ryk said.

Noise from the underground shooting range would be less than the noise from nearby traffic, she added.

“There are a whole lot of people, both in Johnstown and elsewhere, that think this is a good idea,” Ryk said.

The Johnstown Town Council is expected to consider the shooting range plan in August.

But some residents of the nearby Thompson Crossing housing development are not thrilled with the idea. Jim French, a former police officer, said he doesn’t have a problem with what goes on inside the shooting range.

It’s what could go wrong outside that has him concerned.

“They are putting this up next to occupied homes and school bus stops,” French said. “That just doesn’t make sense.

“All these people are going to be armed, coming to their vehicles and somebody is going to say to somebody else, ‘Hey, come look at this,’ and somebody is going to do something foolish.

“That tiny percentage of people who do something foolish with a gun,” French said, “is what is worrying me.”

Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley