By FRANK CARINI/ecoRI
News staff
Trustom Pond NWR (photo by Will Collette) |
While waterfowl hunting
will continue to be allowed in a limited area at the Trustom Pond National
Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, the Fish & Wildlife Service’s final hunting and fishing plan for
the refuge allows archery hunting for deer, wild turkey, fox, and
coyote throughout much of the 777-acre preserve.
Margaret Bucheit and her
husband, William Ohley, have lived at their Coddington Way property that abuts
open space next to Trustom for 13 years. They held a physically distanced
neighborhood meeting Aug. 15 at the end of their cul-de-sac to discuss concerns
about the refuge’s increased hunting opportunities. Eight of the 10 families
who live in their Land N Sea development attended.
“In no way does our neighborhood consider this change of use safe. Many of us walk year-round in the woods behind our homes,” Bucheit said. “We do not want hunters with weapons in the woods behind our homes. We truly feel unsafe.”
The subdivision and its
35 acres of open space abuts 270 acres of Trustom that will be open to 35 bow
hunters for four months beginning in fall 2021. Both Bucheit and Ohley, who
shoots a longbow, are particularly concerned about the use of crossbows to kill
game, noting they fire arrows that can move up to 400 feet per second (272 mph)
and travel up to 1,500 feet.
“Fish and Wildlife is
letting thirty-five strangers shoot those bows for four months of the year on
the border of my neighborhood,” Bucheit said. “The season will be in autumn,
during the bird migration, a time when most of us down here love to walk in the
refuges, a time that draws visitors, educators, researchers, and families.”
The longtime Rhode
Island couple, who have hired a Rhode Island attorney to represent the
neighborhood’s interests, recently told ecoRI News that abutter concerns
weren’t given enough credence and that the intent of property deeded to help
create the refuge was ignored.
Westerly-based attorney
Paul Singer has noted that Ann Kenyon Morse, in 1974, donated the refuge’s
first 365 acres with the understanding that it would be used as “an inviolate
sanctuary for birds and/or as a refuge for wildlife.”
He said the deed makes no mention of hunting. He also noted that South Kingstown doesn’t allow hunting on town-owned property, even as the Fish & Wildlife Service expands it on federal property.
He said the deed makes no mention of hunting. He also noted that South Kingstown doesn’t allow hunting on town-owned property, even as the Fish & Wildlife Service expands it on federal property.
Singer said Trustom is
used year-round “by people seeking a peaceful location where they can relax in
a natural setting and observe nature.” He asked how hunting at Trustom fits in
with Morse’s wishes?
While Morse’s donation
help create Trustom’s foundation, the refuge expanded in 1982 when the Audubon
Society of Rhode Island donated 151 acres. The refuge, which is now nearly 800
acres, features various wildlife habitats, including fields, shrublands,
woodlands, fresh and saltwater ponds, and sandy beaches and dunes.
The area is home to some
275 bird species, 40 mammal species, and 20 amphibian species. On the southern
boundary of the property is one of the few Rhode Island nesting sites for two
species of concern, the least tern and piping plover.
Trustom gets between
50,000 and 70,000 visitors annually.
This map (⬆) created by William Ohley shows the location of the right of way (ROW) in the 1982 deed from the Young family to the U.S. government. The path connects two Land N Sea subdivision open spaces and is in a zone allowed for hunting. Ohley said the blue trail is where neighborhood residents walk, and the yellow markers are their properties. Some of the blue trail is in a hunting-allowed zone.
Bucheit and Ohley claim
a warranty deed shows
their neighborhood rights as abutters for access onto and across the refuge.
They said the Fish & Wildlife Service didn’t take this right of way into
consideration when creating Trustom’s hunting safety zone.
According to this deed, they said, neighbors have access across Trustom by walking, horseback, and bicycle to reach the beach, per a property-sale agreement with Joseph and Frances Young, who nearly four decades ago sold about 60 acres of their land to the federal government to be incorporated into the Trustom refuge.
According to this deed, they said, neighbors have access across Trustom by walking, horseback, and bicycle to reach the beach, per a property-sale agreement with Joseph and Frances Young, who nearly four decades ago sold about 60 acres of their land to the federal government to be incorporated into the Trustom refuge.
Opponents said the Fish & Willdife Service’s safety zone is inadequate, particularly in regards to private property. Ohley called it a “joke.” They said at least one house isn’t even marked as protected, and they noted that none of the neighborhood’s trails through jointly owned open space are marked.
The Fish & Wildlife Service plan says all archers must carry a state hunting license, which requires a hunter education course, and must show proficiency in the use of archery equipment. It says no hunting will be allowed within 200 feet of a dwelling or within 100 feet of a public trail.
“We are confident that
this activity can be accommodated safely and with minimal conflicts with other
users,” according to the federal agency.
The agency has noted
that the finalized hunting and fishing plan
isn’t going to harm the overall population of any wildlife species on the
refuges. It’s likely that the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
will handle licensing and oversight at the five federal refuges.
“Our plan is about
sharing these lands with others, even though some may not agree with how others
choose to enjoy the natural environment,” according to the Fish & Wildlife
Service. “These lands are for every citizen’s use, for all Americans, not just
a few.”
In a letter dated June 5 and
sent to Charlie Vandermoer, the Charlestown-based refuge manager for the Rhode
National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Singer and the neighbors he represents note
the property deeds used to create Trustom and the concerns they have about the
expansion of refuge hunting.
They would like to see
the finalized plan for the refuge scrapped, or at least curtailed to a few
weeks or days as was done for the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in
Middletown, where three- to five-day hunts will begin in 2022 or 2023; the
hunts will not occur every year. The Aquidneck Island refuge will be closed
during these special hunts.
Opponents acknowledged
that the refuge’s deer population is a problem, but said there are other
solutions, with more community input, that could be implemented.
The concerns of the
neighborhood group being led by Bucheit and Ohley are expected to be on the
agenda for the South Kingstown Town Council meeting scheduled for Sept. 14.
The council’s options,
however, are likely limited, as federal regulations trump state and local ones.
One possible avenue for the council to take, if the five members or a majority
share similar concerns about expanded hunting at Trustom, would be to file an
injunction that could stop the implementation of the plan long enough that a
potential new White House administration could stop it.
Others who are concerned
about the Fish & Wildlife Service’s recent decision to expand hunting at
the five refuges can send an email to trustom.no.hunt@gmail.com. Bucheit and
Ohley are looking to expand their network of opposition.