Hunting discussion stirs strong feelings

Land-use decision is due on March 4

Marshfield's Conservation Commission will decide within the next month whether to open land under its authority to hunters, ending a 20-year prohibition.

To date, people on both sides of that issue seem unwilling to accept any compromise. Hunters want to pursue their pastime free of local interference, and hikers want to use the conservation lands without having to worry about catching a stray arrow or bullet.

The 2,000 acres under the Marshfield Conservation Commission's authority have been off-limits to hunters since 1989. The issue of hunting was raised recently by residents who said they were running into hunters while hiking or jogging on the commission's tracts. The properties were not posted with "No Hunting" signs, so the confusion, officials conceded, was understandable and needed to be cleared up.

The selectmen appointed a safety committee two weeks ago to look at the issue of hunting on town-owned lands, some of which are under the Board of Selectmen's authority.

But the Conservation Commission can make its own rules for properties placed under its purview. A draft containing several options was available to people who attended the commission's meeting last Wednesday. A more definitive draft will be ready by the Feb. 26 commission meeting at Town Hall, and a final decision on hunting will be made on March 4.

In the meantime, the commission is urging both sides to submit comments to its office in writing.

Hunters were most concerned that the commission's draft, so far, allowed only for bow-and-arrow hunting. Use of firearms was not included in any of the scenarios presented last Wednesday.

One option would place a strict limitation on game, allowing only for deer hunting. A second scenario would allow for hunting deer, coyotes, water fowl, and turkeys. The commission could limit hunting, in any form, to certain of its properties or open all of them to hunters.

In other towns, conservation commissioners have handled the hunter-vs.-hiker situation in a variety of ways, as development continues to shrink the amount of open land.

Halifax, Middleborough, and Pembroke don't allow any type of hunting on land under Conservation Commission control. But commissions in some other towns have opened a few of their properties to hunting. Hanover's commission, for example, prohibited hunting from 1999 until 2006, when the members decided to open two commission properties. Hunting on those tracts is limited to bow-and-arrow, and only during deer season, according to the town's conservation agent, Patrick Gallivan.

Gallivan believes the debate over hunting has yet to be settled. "A group of residents has been uncomfortable and asked the town to look at it again," Gallivan said. "It may come up this spring."

Duxbury's Conservation Commission adopted regulations in 2007 that allow only bow-and-arrow for deer, and only on a few of its properties.

In Hanson, meanwhile, hunting, trapping, and fishing are allowed on land under the Conservation Commission's authority, with no restrictions other than those instituted by the state.

Tom DePersia, a Marshfield resident and a hunter, spoke in favor of allowing all forms of hunting on commission properties. "There are already many lands you can't hunt on, like the Audubon properties," he said. "There are plenty of places for people who want to walk."

A fellow hunter told the commission, "We should be thanked for what we're doing." Hunters cited the overpopulation of deer, coyotes, and other wildlife, as well as the dangers of diseases carried by deer ticks.

Although non-hunters were greatly outnumbered by hunters at Wednesday's meeting, they are launching their own counter-attack, circulating a petition asking the commission to stand by its 1989 decision to ban hunting on its properties.

"The people who donated those lands since 1989 assumed there would be no hunting," said resident Kathryn Weber. "I see no reason for the commission to reverse its regulations. There are other places to hunt. One of the reasons for their 1989 decision was people were too close. What's our density now?"

The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife supports keeping as much land as possible open to hunting. The state agency owns many tracts throughout southeastern Massachusetts where hunting, fishing, and trapping are allowed.

The division's southeast district supervisor, Jason Zimmer, last week presented the commission with his determination on where hunting should be allowed. He urged the commission to open up its larger tracts to all forms of hunting and allow bow-and-arrow hunting on its smaller properties.

Christine Legere can be reached at christnelegere@yahoo.com.