Hunters Run Out of Town

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[url "http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/1editorialtablebody.lasso?-token.searchtype=authorroutine&-token.lpsearchstring=Kirk%20Pinho&-nothing"]Kirk Pinho[/url] December 06, 2006 - As the remaining open spaces in the lakes area of western Oakland County continue to be developed, it's getting harder for hunters to peacefully co-exist with residential property owners. Once considered a haven for outdoor recreation, development the lakes area over the past few decades has whittled away at hunting opportunities. In a sign that the trend will continue, a new hunting closure in the area may be on the horizon.

"Just today, I had a lady come in from the Cedarburgh Trailer Park. Somebody went back in there, walked through the trailer park with a shotgun, walked into the woods, shot a deer, and field-dressed it on somebody's front lawn," said White Lake Township Supervisor Mike Kowall last week. "Common sense dictates that's not an area to be hunted."

Hunting advocates state such an occurrence is rare and most hunters are law-abiding and conscientious.

"The vast majority of hunters, far over 99 percent, not only understand the game regulations and the laws, but they fully support them; and, in many cases, it was the hunters' groups like MUCC that made those laws in the first place," said Tony Hansen, spokesperson for the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) and editor of Michigan Outdoors Magazine.

Still, the conflicts between hunters and residential property owners pop up from time to time in the lakes area.

[b]Some residents of a Commerce Township neighborhood along the shores of Twin Sun Lake are distraught with what they perceive to be unconscientious and dangerous duck hunting in their neighborhood. Many have spoken publicly at Board of Trustees meetings about the issue, citing safety concerns. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, the township board authorized Supervisor Tom Zoner to request a state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) public hearing on a potential hunting closure impacting roughly 40 acres adjacent to the lake.

"Certainly safety is a very important issue, but also the noise is just unbelievable," said Marvin Lee, a resident of the area. "We made it clear from the very beginning that this is not about hunting, per se. It's about hunting on this lake, in an area that is now developed. We are far too close to the shooters for safety, and also for any kind of noise abatement. Go ahead and hunt, but do it in an area where you're not inflicting mental stress on a neighborhood."

"If people are shooting too close to buildings, if they are not paying attention to the legal shooting hours, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't hunters themselves that turned those people in," said MUCC's Hansen. [b]

[b]There are about 80 homes in the area, according to Lee, but "there was hardly anything here" as recently as seven years ago.

"One time, I'm sure this area was fine for hunting, (but) with all the families and children playing in the backyards right along the lakefront, it's a real concern."

Before the area was developed, Oakland County's lakes area was a popular destination for Detroit residents wishing to get away for a weekend. Many flocked to west Oakland County to enjoy outdoor recreation, including hunting. However, as the area has become more built out, local places open to hunting are disappearing.

Hunting is not allowed in the city limits of Orchard Lake, Walled Lake and Wixom, or in the villages of Milford and Wolverine Lake.

Many of the six townships in the area — Commerce, West Bloomfield, Highland, White Lake, Milford, and Waterford — have enacted ordinances which mirror state hunting laws in several respects. Hunting of any kind is prohibited within 450 feet of a residence or structure.

Such hunting controls reportedly weren't adopted with an anti-hunting bent, but as an attempt to preserve the greater public safety.

No person, including archers and crossbow hunters, may hunt or discharge a firearm, crossbow, or bow and arrow in safety zones extending 450 feet from a structure, or shoot any wild animal or any bird in a safety zone without the written permission of the owner or occupant of land in a safety zone.

These zones apply to hunting only and are not applicable to indoor or outdoor shooting ranges, target shooting, law enforcement activities, or the discharge of firearms, crossbows or bow and arrow for any non-hunting purpose, according to the DNR.

Permission is required from the landowner or leaseholder before hunters can use any farmlands or connected woodlots, or on any fenced or posted private lands.

If an animal or bird is wounded and it runs or flies onto private property, hunters can't pursue it without the landowner's permission. If the animal is pursued without the landowner's consent, it's considered trespassing and subject to prosecution.

Hunters have the right to enjoy the sport without deliberate interference, according to the DNR. Individuals who feel their hunting is being obstructed should report the violation to a local conservation officer, the nearest DNR Operations Service Center or by calling 1-800-292-7800.

In Commerce Township, about one-third of the community has some sort of hunting restriction in place.

Some of these areas are sections slightly east of Duck Lake Road, both north and south of East Commerce Road. Additionally, a larger portion of land — with Sleeth Road, Haggerty Road, Bogie Lake Road, and South Commerce and Richardson Road serving as its boundaries — is off limits to hunters.

A second area in Commerce closed to hunting is located in the northwestern portion of the township. That restricted area includes land north of Sleeth Road extending east to about one-half mile west of Bass Lake Road. Commerce Road borders the restricted area on the north side. The township border marks the western boundary of the restricted area.

A third area in the township also has hunting restrictions, although firearms can be used in this area. The area abuts the Proud Lake Recreation Area on the west. Bass Lake Road marks the northern boundary while Glengary bounds the southern end and Benstein the eastern border. Shotgun hunting is allowed in this small area in the township, as long as shells used are +2 shot or smaller.

A small no-hunting zone exists immediately south of the restricted shotgun hunting area. Another small area where no small arms hunting is allowed is along Newton and Oakley Park roads, bordering on Reed Lake.

In the Proud Lake Recreation Area, hunting is permitted from Sept. 15 through March 31. Rabbit, squirrel, deer and grouse are among the wildlife hunted, each having its own designated season. Hunting is allowed west of Wixom Road and north of the Huron River within the confines of Commerce.

Several areas of township park land are also off-limits to hunting. One of those is just south of Glengary Road, west of Benstein; another is between Welch Road and M-5, with West Maple and 14 Mile roads on the north and south; another is north of Oakley Park Road, between Benstein and South Commerce Road.

Highland Township has a firearms ordinance which follows the same guidelines the state has established for hunting, according to Township Supervisor Triscia Pilchowski.

"We don't address hunting specifically," she said. "It's just how you conduct yourself with firearms in the township. Having adopted that same language (as the state), it seemed to make sense for the township considering that 25 percent of the township is state land."

The ordinance essentially states that hunters have to be at least 450 feet away from a residential or commercial structure in which there is at least one person, according to the ordinance. The safety zone also applies to unowned or unoccupied dwellings, as well as public roads or highways within the township.

The ordinance doesn't apply to individuals discharging firearms at a shooting range or location specifically authorized or licensed for such purposes.

"A lot of people have a lot of acreage, but (hunters) have to meet the same guidelines that the state has in place and they also have to have permission from the property owners if they are going to be on their property for hunting," Pilchowski said.

White Lake Township also has an ordinance which mirrors state restrictions, prohibiting hunters from being within 450 feet of a structure.

Property owners can post "no hunting" signs on their property if they have significant acreage, according to supervisor Kowall.

"We will enforce trespassing and (violations of) hunting without permits, and a variety of other things," said Kowall, a hunter himself. "This is coming from somebody that hunts. I'm not an anti-hunter by any stretch. I'm going to take the real common sense approach to it. As things build up and time progresses, it's going to dictate that you can't hunt."

The Highland Recreation Area, located in both Highland and White Lake townships, is open to hunting. The recreation area has 5,900 acres.

There are 10 areas in White Lake where firearm hunting is banned, per the township's hunting area control ordinance.

About 600 acres in the center of the township, in neighborhoods around Brendel Lake and Lake Neva, are included in a no-hunting zone. The area is bordered by M-59 to the north and Bogie Lake and Sunset roads to the west.

Another 900 acres of land is prohibited to firearm hunting. That area is located south of Elizabeth Lake Road, with Oxbow Lake Road as its western border. Cedar Island Road is the southern border and Farnsworth and Round Lake roads are on the east.

Another 600 acres of land are off limits to hunters in the eastern portion of the township. The land is bounded by M-59, Oxbow Lake and the Huron River. In the northwest corner of White Lake, the land around White Lake itself is a no-hunting zone. Land within 450 feet of Oxbow Lake, Bogie Lake, Cooley Lake and Pontiac Lake are also no-hunting zones — the only exception in the ordinance is state-owned land around Pontiac Lake.

There are "a lot" of places in Milford Township where hunting is permitted, according to Milford Township Supervisor Don Green.

"But there is a big section of (the township) that's closed to hunting because the houses are too close," he said, referring to the 450-foot safety zone requirement that's in place.

Much of the township has a prohibition on any firearm hunting. That land is concentrated in the center of the township. Firearm hunting is allowed along the western-most areas of Milford, as well as the southern-most stretches of land in the township, except inside Kensington Metropark. Some of the eastern-most areas of the township are also open to firearm hunting.

A township ban on hunting with all center fire or rim fire rifles is in effect. The ban does not apply to muzzle loaders.

The township currently is in the process of reconsidering the ordinance, according to Green. The ordinance must be in compliance with state law, in terms of how it both allows and prohibits hunting.

"That will probably be June or July by the time that's all done because we are (updating) the whole (ordinance) book," Green said.

There is no firearm hunting allowed in West Bloomfield Township, according to DNR regulations provided by Dennis Knapp of the department's Law Enforcement Division. Additionally, firearms hunting is not allowed in Waterford Township except on state park land, which includes the 3,900-acre Pontiac Lake Recreation Area.

A 1966 referendum approved by West Bloomfield voters banned hunting with firearms anywhere in the township.

Mike Killian, the township's ordinance officer, said "four or five years ago" an ordinance was passed which banned bow hunting in the township.

Waterford Township passed an ordinance in 1957 that outlines similar hunting bans. The only difference between the bans in Waterford and West Bloomfield is firearm hunting is allowed in Waterford on state-owned land, such as the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area.

At the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, the hunting of rabbits, squirrel, grouse, woodcock, ducks, geese, raccoons and deer is allowed during the respective season.
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