Commisioners consider hunting restrictions along Big Woods Road

Posted Sunday, November 18, 2007

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Pittsboro, NC - The Chatham County Commissioner will consider a request to approve a letter requesting the Wildlife Commission to designate game lands on north side of Big Woods Road from Grace Road to 100 yards past western park boundary as bow hunting only.

Wildlife Commission letter

Action Requested: Motion to approve letter requesting Wildlife Commission to designate game lands on North side of Big Woods from Grace Road to 100 yards past our most western park boundary as bow hunting only.

The property surrounding the Big Woods Park property is Permanent Game lands. This means that firearm hunting is allowed on the property. The property is owned by US Corps of Engineers and leased to the State. Wildlife Commission is managing the property.

At the August 2007 meeting, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board discussed the U.S Corps of Engineers property surrounding the Big Woods property for the proposed park. The Board suggested meeting with Army Corps of Engineers and Wildlife Commission to discuss the game lands surrounding the park property. October 2007 a meeting was set with the Parks and Recreation Director and Recreation Advisory Board members Don Lein and Greg Solomon and Board of Commissioner George Luicer. A member from Wildlife Commission and Army Corps of Engineer attended. At that meeting, we voiced our concerns about the games lands surrounding the park property as Permanent Game Lands and requested if it could be designated as bow hunting only and delete hunting with firearms on game lands surrounding that property. Corps of Engineers member and Wildlife commission members advised us to submit a letter with that request.

The Staff and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board would like to recommend the Board of commissioners to approve letter requesting Wildlife Commission to designate game lands on North side of Big Woods from Grace Road to 100 yards past our most western park boundary as bow hunting only.

Suggested Motion:
Motion to approve letter requesting Wildlife Commission to designate game lands on North side of Big Woods from Grace Road to 100 yards past our most western park boundary as bow hunting only.

Proposed letter to the Wildlife Commission -

CHATHAM COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION
TRACY M. BURNETT PARKS & RECREATION DIRECTOR
BILL SHUEY ATHLETIC SUPERVISOR
P.O. BOX 1783 108 SOlrrIl STREET
PI'rrSBORO, NC . 27312-0087
(919) 542-8252
Chatham.recreation@ncmail.net
To: Wildlife Commission
From: Chatham County Parks and Recreation Department
Re: Game Lands on Big Woods surrounding park property

In September, 2007, Chatham County purchased a 66 acre tract on Big Woods Road with the purpose of developing a full purpose public park. In addition to the general public who will enjoy the facilities, we expect that its proximity to two schools will also involve a fair amount of utilization by both the children and the staff.

The property on the West is bounded by Big Woods Road and the homes adjoining Big Woods. The remainder is surrounded by Permanent Game Lands. These are relatively narrow strips of land between Jordan Lake, Bush Creek and the park boundary. While we intend to adhere to the 100 foot buffer recommendation, we feel hunting with firearms on the property surrounding the park represents an unwarranted risk to the users of the park, particularly the school children.

We intend to have the park be as environmentally sensitive as possible. We are cognizant of the purpose of making these lands permanent game lands originally, because of riparian and other concerns. We intend to work with your personnel to ensure that our use will be consistent with that original purpose.

However, in order to ensure the safety of the users of the park we would request that the game lands be designated as bow hunting only. On north side of Big Woods Road from Grace Road to 100 yards past our western most park boundary We recognize that this process takes some time and involves public hearings. We will work with you to facilitate and expedite this process.

If you have questions or would like to meet with us, please contact Ms Tracy Burnett, Director of Parks and Recreation for Chatham County at (919)545-8550.

Thank you and look forward to working with you and your staff.