This land piece

This land piece, as with all others owned by the state, is of concern to ALL hunters. Don't let NIMBY dictate! Multiple use recreation has always been the sportsmen's position, unfortunately there are those who put their own interests foremost without regard to others. Write a letter to DEP requesting this land be open to ALL hunting, with no restrictions, unless safety concerns can be justified. Send to: Deputy Commissioner David Leff, DEP, 79 Elm St., Hartford, CT 06106. Or, send an e-mail to: Edward Parker, Chief, Bureau of natural Resources: karen.onofri@po.state.ct.us

Sport buffs target Valley lands; safety concerns raised
It's state's choice for use of Seymour, Ansonia open spaces
Hunting plan under fire
By AMANDA CUDA

Les Cole and his family once enjoyed riding all-terrain vehicles on open space off Cemetery and Holbrook roads in Seymour. Then the state bought the property last year and banned the vehicles.

Now Cole is angry about proposals for what he considers a more dangerous use of the land in his hometown. It's one of two parcels in the Naugatuck Valley on which the state Department of Environmental Protection is considering allowing hunting.

"We can't ride there but this is allowed?" Cole said. "I really don't see the harm in what we're doing."

The issue of opening state and municipal land in Ansonia and Seymour for hunting has pitted enthusiasts of the sport against those concerned about safety. The hunters said they'd help control booming animal populations and would only use the land during short hunting seasons.

The 322-acre Seymour parcel is one of two tracts of former water company land in the Valley that the DEP bought last year for open space. The other is a 570-acre parcel near the Quillinan Reservoir in Ansonia.

The DEP's Hunting Review Team has rendered no decision about allowing hunting on the properties.

It's standard for the state to consider opening large pieces of property for hunting, said Dale May, director of the DEP Wildlife Division.

Hunting seasons vary according to the kind of game and firearm used. The deer season on state land is in the fall and early winter. There are two turkey seasons, one in the fall and a spring season that runs May 1-21 this year.

Although residents in more rural areas of the state often have access to wide swaths of land hunting, hunting grounds are relatively sparse in the lower Valley.

"That's a part of the state where there's not a lot of public hunting opportunity," May said.

State-owned lands open to hunters in the region include Naugatuck State Forest in Beacon Falls, Paugussett State Forest in Newtown and George C. Waldo State Park in Southbury.

Like Cole, Seymour First Selectman Scott Barton said hunting would be a poor use for the 322-acre property off Cemetery Road, although the decision is the state's to make. Residential properties abut three-quarters of that parcel, Barton said.

"I believe in hunting," he said. "I just believe it's dangerous to allow it on that piece of land."

But Bungay Road resident Barbara Zanowiak said she'd prefer hunters to developers.

She was one of a group of Seymour residents who successfully fought to keep a housing developer from taking over the Seymour property last year for a subdivision.

Zanowiak said hunting on the property would be OK with her, as long as it's only bow hunting.

"Hunting serves a legitimate purpose," she said. "It's also a bonding experience for a lot of men. Why shouldn't they be able to do it in their own neighborhoods?"

She said she has seen people hunting illegally on the property, sitting in their cars and waiting for deer before shooting, and said legalizing hunting there might prevent that.

Ansonia resident Ronald DeGregoria, an avid hunter for more than 30 years, has traveled as far as Pennsylvania to enjoy the sport.

He's expressed interest in finding hunting grounds closer to home -- particularly on the 570 acres in Ansonia. He took his concerns to the city late last year, as did other hunters.

Although the decision to open that land for hunting is made by the state, their requests prompted Ansonia officials to consider allowing hunting on 42.5 acres the city owns bordering the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center.

That proposal drew immediate fire from the nature center's supporters, who raised safety concerns.

The Board of Aldermen has the authority to decide whether residents can hunt on city-owned property, said Ansonia Corporation Counsel Kevin Blake. But aldermanic President Peter Danielczuk said there have been few requests to use the city-owned property for hunting, so there's no need to vote on the issue.

DeGregoria said he agrees that the smaller, city-owned Ansonia parcel should be left for the nature center. But he'd like to see the 570-acre state-owned parcel open to hunters.

There's no reason that hunters and hikers couldn't share the space, as long as hunters don't use the space during the off-season and hikers stay out during hunting season.

"If the state owns that property, then I think everyone should have an equal right to it," he said. "It's fair to everyone that way."

Some hunting advocates say it's not just hunters who would enjoy the benefits of opening up local lands for the sport.

Allowing hunting in Seymour and Ansonia would cut down on exploding deer populations, said New Haven resident Michael Riccitelli.

Riccitelli regularly shoots at the Ansonia Rod and Gun Club on Ford Road and said adding hunting in the area would help.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it," he said. "It's good to open up new areas because so many areas are overpopulated with deer and wild turkey."