CORDELE — A new archery and air rifle range at Georgia Veterans State Park and Lake Blackshear Resort near Cordele is now available for archers, shooting enthusiasts, bow hunters, youth groups and others interested in perfecting their target skills.

It is one of 36 archery and shooting ranges currently available on public land in Georgia.

The new facility at Georgia Veterans State Park and Lake Blackshear Resort consists of three ranges. The first is a static archery range where archers can shoot into bulls-eye targets at 10, 20, 30 and 40-yards. The second range is a 3-D trail with multiple game animal targets at various distances. The third range is an air rifle range with a variety of challenging targets.

This range will serve as a resource for area shooting enthusiasts, for park programming activities and for school groups participating in the National Archery in Schools Program. Users need to bring their own gear. To reduce impact to targets, broadheads are not allowed.

To help the park maintain the range, users will pay a $5 daily fee (children 12 and younger are free) or can purchase an annual range pass ($50 for an individual/$75 for a family pass). Range fees or passes may be purchased at the park office. The range fees are in addition to the daily or annual ParkPass for accessing Georgia State Parks.

The development of the range has been a collaborative effort between Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division and the North Georgia Mountain Authority. Funds from the Federal Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program covered 75 percent of the $408,000 project, with the North Georgia Mountains Authority contributing the remaining 25 percent.

The range at the park are open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until sunset. To learn more, visit www.lakeblackshearresort.com or call 800-459-1230. For more information on ranges available in Georgia, visit georgiawildlife.com/AllRanges.