The Carbon County firing range opened Monday.

The new 75-foot by 150-foot range, located on the Broad Mountain behind the prison, will be used by county correctional officers, the sheriff's department, probation officers and the Nesquehoning Police Department for training.Work-release inmates and sergeants at the prison cleared the trees and brush from the area to make way for the range.Packer Township allowed the prison to borrow its chipper/shredder to remove the trees, and Bob Stempa Excavating of Nesquehoning volunteered his time and equipment to remove stumps to excavate the land and create a 15-foot-tall by 50-foot-wide berm.The county paid the fuel costs for Stempa's equipment.