City Parks Director Les Chang issued the following statement this afternoon regarding signs posted today at Koko Head Regional Park that cite the danger of live fire from a nearby rifle range:

The signs were posted because use of the old railroad tracks can be dangerous and is a serious public safety issue.

Stray bullets could inadvertently be pointed in that direction. The lower ridge is in range of weapons used.

This area is not a trail. The abandoned railroad tracks were never an open part of the Koko Head Regional Park complex. The concern of people walking up the ridge behind an active shooting range has been a long-time one. Over the years, however, it has become a trail more and more people use. Although there hasn't been a reported incident, the significant increase in hiking on the old railroad tracks raised a significant concern for an increase risk of an accident, and one would be one too many.

The issue we at the Parks Department face is to either close the shooting range or to discourage and make people aware of the significant danger they face when hiking up the abandoned railroad tracks, and we've opted for the latter.