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Seashore releases final hunting plan
Banner Daily Update posted Mon. Aug. 13
By Kaimi Rose Lum
Banner Staff
Hunters may not be able to take home a nice, plump, farm-raised pheasant from the forests of the National Seashore 15 years from now, but roast bobwhite could be on the table if all goes according to plan. In its final Environmental Impact Statement on hunting within the park, released Friday, the Seashore says it will “phase out” the practice of releasing tame pheasants for sportsmen to stalk and instead increase opportunities for hunting native game birds, like northern bobwhite quail and eastern turkey.
To create a more quail-friendly environment, the Seashore is planning on “restoring and maintaining heathland and grassland habitat on 270 acres over a 15-year period using an adaptive management approach,” according to the EIS. Wellfleet’s Marconi area would be the site of the most extensive overhaul. As the amount of quail habitat increases over time, the number of pheasants released, or “stocked,” in the park each fall would be reduced.
The EIS estimates that this process would take place over a period of 14 to 17 years and states that “in no case will pheasant stocking continue beyond 17 years.”
Other elements of the plan include adding a fall turkey hunt, clarifying and defining areas where hunting is allowed, and making more of an effort to educate both hunters and regular visitors to the park about safety during the hunting season and so on.
“We’ve covered all the issues, or at least considered all the issues, that were raised during public scoping,” said Carrie Phillips, the Seashore’s Chief of Natural Resources.
The Seashore was required to complete the EIS as the result of a lawsuit filed against the Park Service in 2003 by a group of wildlife organizations, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Humane Society of the U.S., who objected to the Seashore’s practice of releasing farm-raised, non-native pheasants on its lands. The judge found that the practice failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, ordered the Seashore to conduct an environmental assessment of all of its hunting programs and enjoined the pheasant stocking until the assessment was complete.
The Seashore will formally adopt the plan outlined in the EIS when Supt. George Price signs an official “record of decision” on Sept. 10. However, according to Carrie Phillips, the Seashore’s Chief of Natural Resources, that may not allow enough time for a pheasant stocking to be arranged by October, the month when it traditionally begins. The state Div. of Fisheries and Wildlife organizes the pheasant hunt, in cooperation with the Seashore, and “whether or not they would still be able or interested in releasing pheasants this year I don’t know,” Phillips said.
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Aug 9th, 2007