POSTED: Thursday, November 22, 2012 --- 1:05 p.m.

The National Rifle Association has donated nearly $15,000 to make improvements to a state-run shooting range in far northern Wisconsin.

The grant will be used to expand the Snaketrack Public Shooting Range in Iron County.

The NRA had previously given a pair of $25,000 grants to upgrade two other Wisconsin ranges: one at Yellowstone Lake State Park in Lafayette County, and the other in the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

Warden Keith Warnke of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources says all three grants will be matched 3-to-1 from federal grants.

Those grant revenues are taxes that shooters and hunters pay on ammunition and equipment. DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp says it's only appropriate for the money to go back toward providing more shooting opportunities.

Copyright 2012: Associated Press