Off-road enthusiast Kathleen Gamble, mother of Ryan Gamble, who was killed in a race at the facility, said she "would resent the fact that they would be using Ryan's death as an excuse to close the park."

Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

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Off-road-vehicle enthusiasts are angry over a county proposal to close Pima Motorsports Park and convert the only local track into a shooting range.

The county shut down the 640-acre park on Tucson's far Southeast Side in July because of a dispute with the firm contracted to run it.

Disappointed off-road-vehicle enthusiasts looked forward to the park reopening by the end of the year, which is what county Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department had promised.

The county received eight management proposals from an October solicitation for bids.

But on Nov. 23 it met with state officials to explore a proposal to convert the park to a shooting range, complementing the ranges at nearby Southeast Regional Park.

County Supervisor Ray Carroll, who represents the area, said Wednesday that the recommendation "was a shock to me."

"I was under the impression that the supervisors would be picking an (park) operator around the first of the year," Carroll said. "Instead, we're going to be holding public meetings about making it into a shooting range."

Nanette Jenkins, assistant county administrator, said the county hasn't given up on reopening the park for off-road- vehicle enthusiasts. It's only exploring the proposal because a range could make money and provide shooters with another facility, she said.

Sharon Bronson, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, said the park wasn't intended to make money — it was built to provide a place where off-roaders could ride legally and relatively safely.

"We're breaking even with PMP, so it's not costing the county any money" she said.

The park was built mostly with a $1.2 million state grant and with labor volunteered by off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

She said the county will have to pay back at least some of that money if it decides to change the park into a shooting range.

Rafael Payan, county parks director, suggests in a Dec. 5 memo that the county could use $1 million set aside in the 2004 county open-space bond issue to repay the grants. Payan was not available to comment Wednesday afternoon.

Bronson opposes closing the motor-sports park unless the county provides another place to ride off-road vehicles.

"We need to honor our commitment" to off-roaders, she said. "That's the bottom line."

Jack Dillon, owner of Eastside Cycles, said that if local off-road riders can't use the park, they'll go elsewhere to ride — either in the desert or other areas where they shouldn't, or to other facilities elsewhere around the state.

"All we're going to do is drive people into the washes," Bronson agreed. "And that's not good.

Besides the financial considerations, Jenkins said county officials are concerned about being sued for injuries or deaths at the park. A 13-year-old racer, Ryan Gamble, was killed while motocross racing there in December 2004 and several racers and riders have been injured.

Kathleen Gamble, Ryan's mother and longtime off-road-vehicle enthusiast, thinks that's just an excuse.

"They knew that there would be a liability when they opened the park," she said. "It didn't stop them then. Why would it stop them now?

"They didn't lose a penny," she said, adding "I would resent the fact that they would be using Ryan's death an excuse to close the park. They cannot use liability as an excuse."

Carroll said the board won't vote on the closure until several meetings are held to give off-road-vehicle enthusiasts, shooters and others a chance to tell county officials what they think should be done with the park at 11700 S. Harrison Road.

Jenkins said the issue is unlikely to go to the board before April.

Many off-road-vehicle enthusiasts, however, believe county officials already have decided to make the change.

Shari Henderson said she and many others feel betrayed that county officials seem more interested in making money and favoring shooting enthusiasts.

Kent Nichols, president of the Southern Arizona Offroad Coalition, said it's "incredibly bad timing" to consider closing the track at the same time restrictions on tracks are being considered and new rules restricting riding in national forests are being enforced.