FBI asks council to restore use of Camp Bonneville range

The Clark County Council may revisit an earlier decision not to renew the FBI’s contract for the use of the shooting range at Camp Bonneville. The FBI asked the council to reconsider its decision during a work session Wednesday morning.

“The FBI’s presence at Camp Bonneville is not just about training federal agents. It’s about strengthening public safety, supporting the local economy and maintaining partnerships that benefit Clark County, the community and law enforcement,” Doug Olson, special agent in charge at the Portland field office, told the council.

Olson said the training completed at Camp Bonneville helps prepare FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel for responding to high-risk critical incidents, such as an active shooter.

In August, the council voted 3-2 against a one-year agreement that would have allowed the federal agency to continue using the 3,800-acre property. The county gave the FBI until early November to cease using the property.

Established in 1909, Camp Bonneville was used for military training. Troops from Fort Vancouver used the site as a drill field and rifle range. By 1995, the military had stopped using the facility, and in 2006, the U.S. Army transferred ownership to the county.

The federal government also set aside millions of dollars in grant funding to clear the property of unexploded ordnance, explosive compounds, munitions and lead, as well as clean up soil and groundwater contaminants.

Olson said the FBI trains at Camp Bonneville 60 times a year, although residents say that number is closer to 80 or 90 times a year. Of these training days, he said, 20 are dedicated to firearms instruction and 40 are reserved for SWAT training. He said no training is done on weekends, nights or holidays.

“The bureau uses only small-caliber arms — 9mm, .223 and .308 — and does not use explosives, tracers or incendiary devices. To further reduce its footprint, the FBI employs suppressors to minimize noise and relies on reduced-lead ammunition, protecting both agents and the environment,” Olson told the council.

Olson said the FBI previously looked at shooting ranges available in both Southwest Washington and the Portland metro area but couldn’t find anything that would fit the agency’s needs. He said the FBI likely would need to build its own facility, which would be expensive and take years to complete.

Residents have long fought to have the range shut down, arguing that the conveyance agreement with the U.S. Army doesn’t allow the property to be used as a range. The residents also have voiced concerns about safety, noise, pollution and other issues related to use of the property. Those concerns were amplified after an unknown person accessed the Camp Bonneville site via bicycle, broke into an FBI storage area, and made off with 12,000 rounds of handgun and rifle ammunition.

Because Wednesday’s meeting was a work session and did not include a public comment period, several residents attended the council’s Tuesday meeting to voice their objections to an FBI contract.

“When the property was conveyed from the U.S. Defense Department to Clark County back in 2006, it was done so with the explicit purpose or agreement that the property would be used for natural resource conservation,” Mark Leed of the Sierra Club said Tuesday. “I also think a timetable should be set to end the training activities of the other law enforcement agencies, such as the ATF and Clark County Sheriff’s Office.”

Resident Ann Shaw said federal documents identified the range for closure by October 2006 and that the Army had terminated all law enforcement use of the property prior to transferring ownership to the county.

“The deed conveying Camp Bonneville to Clark County does not exempt law enforcement from the terms of the conservation conveyance. … Every agreement authorizing law enforcement’s use of Camp Bonneville is a violation of federal law,” Shaw said.

On Oct. 9, local resident Patti Reynolds filed a petition for an injunction seeking to have all use of the Camp Bonneville range by law enforcement personnel stopped, all contracts declared null and void, and all ammunition stored at the site removed. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

Councilor Glen Yung said he requested Wednesday’s work session to make the county’s discussions with the FBI public. Yung said he hasn’t closed the door on a possible agreement with the FBI.

“I’m trying to see if there’s a way to make this work and that protects the public from anything that could potentially happen out there. I do share the concerns with the storage of the ammunition,” he said.

Yung said the council also has to make sure it’s following the law and following the rules of the deed transfer.