State seeks bids to expand the Upper Stiles Creek shooting range near Fairbanks

Alaska's Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is seeking contractors to expand the Upper Stiles Creek Shooting Range in the Chena River State Recreation Area. Sealed bids are due by 2 pm Oct. 15.

The project would expand the parking lot and the range, pave the access road and parking lot and add a pavilion. The engineer's estimate puts the cost between $500,000 and $1 million, according to the invitation to bid.

The range sits at mile 36.4 of Chena Hot Springs Road. It is one of two public outdoor shooting ranges serving the 7,444-square-mile Fairbanks North Star Borough and surrounding area, according to a 2025 federal environmental assessment. "Over 1,500 people use it yearly," the Northern Area Alaska State Parks Citizen Advisory Board wrote in a 2019 letter included in that assessment.

Ninety percent of construction is funded through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant administered by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, according to the DNR project page. That page dates to a 2023 public comment period, and some details may have changed since.

The bid plans show 8-foot earthen mounds on both sides of the range and a 17-foot backstop. In 2023, the project page said the range had no side or backstop berms.

No contractor has been selected, and no construction start date has been set.