Status Update: The Ranch 4-H Archery Range
On Thursday, December 18, the Ranch hosted a Zoom meeting to share plans for the proposed 4-H Outdoor Archery Range, included as part of the Ranch Master Plan: Phase Two. Thank you to the members of our 4-H community who attended and shared your thoughtful feedback.
The meeting reinforced the Shooting Sports Council’s initial assessment that the current plans do not meet our program’s needs. At the close of the meeting, the Ranch staff assured us that the plans will not be finalized and construction will not proceed until a suitable plan is created.
Shooting Sports leadership is continuing to communicate and offer insight. We supplied a drawing and detailed notes to illustrate how the space could be adapted to function successfully for 4-H Archery.
We have also invited the Ranch leadership and the design team members to:
Include 4-H Shooting Sports leadership in all archery range design discussions to ensure program needs are addressed,
Tour local archery ranges with the 4-H leadership to better understand and discuss common elements of range design,
Attend 4-H archery practice to gain firsthand insight into practice and space requirements.
Please scroll down to read the Ranch’s email update below: Follow-Up: December 18 4-H Archery Range Stakeholder Meeting.
Bringing You Up to Speed
The Ranch is currently in various stages of planning and construction for Phase II of their Master Plan. The area to the east of the McKee 4-H Building, where Archery has previously practiced and held county shoots, is no longer available to us. We have secured an alternate location for the upcoming outdoor season.
Phase II of The Ranch’s Master Plan includes the addition of a 4-H Outdoor Archery Range.
On October 28, The Ranch held a Town Hall Meeting to address a variety of concerns affecting the 4-H program at The Ranch. During the meeting, the Ranch staff—Conor McGrath, Managing Director, and Portia Cook, Strategic Communications—assured attendees that the proposed archery range was still in a conceptual phase and 4-H leaders would have ample opportunity to provide input during the design process.
Earlier this week, The Ranch emailed an invitation for a second stakeholder Zoom meeting to be held on Thursday, December 18. When the Shooting Sports Council inquired about the meeting, the response included the following statement:
“Please know that while we absolutely welcome questions and comments, the design is now in its final stage, so this meeting is not intended for design changes. We are past that phase in the process. This session is focused on transparency, clarity, and helping everyone understand the project and how we arrived at the final concept and next steps.”
It is important to note that an initial stakeholder meeting was scheduled on December 1. No one attended because invitations were not received by the intended stakeholder group members.
Before the meeting on December 18, Shooting Sports leadership requested the archery range plans and renderings to evaluate the design. Though beautiful in its conception, we found that it was not designed to serve the needs of our large 4-H archery program.
During the meeting, it was clear to the archery families in attendance as well that the plan was not designed to suit the 4-H program.
Next Steps
Shooting Sports leadership has requested the archery range plans and renderings. Before the meeting on December 18, we plan to evaluate whether the design is functional and safe for our 4-H program to utilize.
We remain cautiously hopeful that appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that this range meets our needs, despite the fact that The Ranch did not seek design input from the Larimer County 4-H Archery team or the Shooting Sports Council.
How You Can Help
Thank you again to everyone who attended the Zoom meeting in December.
We encourage you to share this information with other Larimer County community members by forwarding this email. We’re happy to add supporters to our email list—just send a request to info@LC4HSS.org.
If you are interested in being added to the Ranch’s stakeholder group for the 4-H Archery Range or sharing your feedback directly, please email Portia Cook, Strategic Communications Coordinator at theranchinfo@larimer.gov.
Thank you for your continued support!
Ranch Email: Follow-Up: December 18 4-H Archery Range Stakeholder Meeting
December 30, 2025
Dear 4-H Archery Community
Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend and engage in the 4-H Archery Range stakeholder meeting on December 18. We appreciate the thoughtful questions, candid feedback, and the time you spent sharing your perspectives with the project team.
The discussion made it clear that the concept presented does not fully align with the functional needs of the Larimer County 4-H archery program. The feedback shared highlighted several important considerations as we evaluate next steps.
What Happens Next
Given the feedback shared, the project team needs time to regroup internally. This allows us to review what we heard alongside safety requirements, site constraints, regulatory considerations, and funding realities, and to determine what paths forward may be feasible.
The Archery Range project team is scheduled to reconvene in January after the new year to discuss next steps. Because several Master Plan projects are already underway on fixed schedules, any re-engagement or redesign of the archery range would take place once those projects are further along.
In the meantime, we will share a follow-up update with the 4-H community that outlines the key themes heard during the December 18 meeting, provides an overview of potential next steps for the archery range project, and explains what the next phase of engagement may look like, including when additional updates can be expected.
We value the partnership with the 4-H community and appreciate the thoughtful engagement from families, volunteers, and Shooting Sports leadership. Continued dialogue is important, and we look forward to working together as this project moves forward.
Thank you again for your engagement and patience. I will follow up once the team has aligned and we have more concrete information to share.
Thank you,
Portia Cook
Strategic Communications Coordinator
The Ranch Events Complex | Larimer County
5280 Arena Circle, Loveland, CO 80538
O: (970)-619-4114
cookpj@co.larimer.co.us