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December 11, 2007

Hunt ban sought after dog shooting

By Michael Lafleur, mlafleur@lowellsun.com

LOWELL -- The fatal shooting of a dog in the Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest last week has prompted City Councilor Rodney Elliott to seek a ban on hunting in the 1,140-acre woods.

Elliott has filed a motion for Tuesday's meeting that asks City Manager Bernie Lynch to have attorneys in the city Law Department research whether such a ban is possible and how it could be implemented.

"Given the number of people that use the forest for recreational purposes, there's an inherent danger with people hunting in the forest," said Elliott, who lives in the city's Pawtucketville neighborhood, which borders the forest. "Unfortunately, there was that shooting of a dog. I want to make sure that the next time, it's not a person."

Lowell police have said they believe a hunter was responsible for the Nov. 30 incident.

Michelle Verville of Lowell was walking her 4-year-old Labrador retriever-German shepherd mix, Smokey, when the dog was shot that Friday morning. Verville, who was unaware hunting was allowed in the forest, said she confronted a hunter, who emerged from the woods nearby almost immediately after the shooting. The man said he wasn't responsible but left the area without offering help, she said.
State environmental police are investigating the case and had yet to make any arrests as of yesterday afternoon, said Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish & Game, which issues hunting licenses.

Elliott noted that many homes abut the forest and that it is heavily used on a daily basis by mountain bikers, dog walkers and others.

"I'm not against hunting, but not in such a heavily settled section of this state," he said.

City officials would not be able to impose a ban on their own, even in the portion of the forest that lies within Lowell's city limits.

State law trumps local ordinance.

Capone noted that if a city were to impose a ban on hunting within its boundaries, that ban would not apply to any state land within those boundaries where hunting is allowed.

In Massachusetts, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has the power to determine if hunting will be allowed in a state forest.

DCR officials already have prohibited hunting in a 252-acre swath in the northwest corner of the forest that is used by the Greater Lowell Indian Cultural Association for ceremonial purposes.

DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox yesterday said it was not clear what the process is for extending the ban.

Local hunters said imposing a ban on hunting in the forest because of one individual would be unfair to all other hunters who use the land.

They said hunters use off-trail sections of the forest where dog walkers, mountain bikers and hikers rarely venture and added that a ban on hunting in the forest could rapidly lead to deer overpopulation and the denuding of smaller brush both in the forest and on neighboring private land.

"You're going to have issues with the deer in people's backyards," said Dracut resident P.J. Mercier, a bow hunter who lives on the edge of the forest and hunts there during deer season.

Mercier, grandson of City Councilor Armand Mercier, said most deer in the forest stick to the marshy areas around Spruce Swamp, where there are no trails.

"I get off the beaten path and most other guys I see walking through the woods, if I do see some, they're doing the same," he said.

Under state law, the discharge of a firearm is not allowed within 500 feet of any home. There also is a buffer zone around roads.

Dracut resident Dave Pinard, who described himself as an avid bow hunter, said he does not hunt in the forest, but those who do "certainly need to use extra caution and be very aware of where they are in the forest and what's around them."

Pinard added that last Friday morning's incident -- if it was an intentional, criminal act -- should not be considered indicative of how all hunters behave.

"He certainly does not represent the mentality of 99.9 percent of the hunters in this country," Pinard said. "All the people that I know who hunt, if anything, they have a greater respect for life in the animals than the nonhunting public because we appreciate it more."

Posted by Admin at December 11, 2007 3:21 PM