Sunday, September 05, 2010
Cutting Blue Ridge Parkway's Hunter Access Program brings equality
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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When Ralph Barton got word that the Blue Ridge Parkway had eliminated its Hunter Access Program, you'd have thought he would have been happy.
No longer would he be required to annually go through the hassle of obtaining a hunting access permit.
Better yet, instead of being relegated to parking only at a few designated access points, hunters who wish to cross Parkway land to their hunting grounds can now start from any parking area along the linear park.
So Barton's hikes to some of his hunting spots on national forest land adjacent to the Parkway stand to get shorter.
But Barton has concerns.
For one thing, he liked the accountability of the old program.
If a hunter broke the rules, Barton said, Parkway rangers could take his permit away.
Barton also didn't mind having limited access points.
Yes, he had some longer hikes. But those long hikes ensured he'd pretty much have his spots to himself.
Such concerns are valid, but elimination of the hunter access permit program is generally a good thing.
And it's not so much because of the simplification of the process and the increased recreational opportunities for hunters that could result.
It's because of the underlying message: Hunters are equal.
Lena Koschmann, the Blue Ridge Parkway's assistant chief ranger, said she heard from many hunters earlier this summer when the park announced that it planned to eliminate the hunter access permit program.
Most feared that the Parkway planned to stop allowing hunters to pass through National Park Service property to access land where hunting is allowed. (Hunting isn't allowed on Parkway property.)
Those concerns were understandable given the clunky wording of the Parkway's initial press release.
Once hunters were assured that hunting access through Parkway lands wasn't at risk, most said they supported the changes, Koschmann said.
But there were those who, like Barton, hoped a permit program could stay in place.
It couldn't, and for that one simple reason: equality.
Parkway officials knew it was legally perilous to treat one group of users differently than another, action that most of us know falls under the term "discrimination."
In fact, equality was the impetus for the change.
Earlier this year a legal decision determined that national parks had to operate according to statewide firearms regulations.
Because citizens in Virginia and North Carolina can legally carry properly licensed firearms openly, and carry concealed handguns with proper permits, those rules had to apply to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
And, because the hunter access permit program was designed to allow an exception to the firearms ban, the program simply wasn't needed after it was legally determined that the ban was invalid.
Whether a person likes firearms or not, no one can argue the legal logic.
Blue Ridge Parkway visitors may notice the change this fall.
Previously off-limits parking areas at some overlooks and trail heads may attract some deer and fall turkey hunters who will pass through park land to their hunting grounds.
And during the bear hound season in December those already ubiquitous trucks with dog boxes likely will be more visible than ever.
But it's not likely the change will prompt a hunter blitz.
Even if hunting access has become simpler, much of the huntable land along the Parkway is rugged and will attract only the hardiest sportsmen.
There's also the new rule that requires hunters to not bring their game across Parkway land unless there is no other reasonable option for getting game out, and only then is it allowed after gaining permission from a ranger.
Even after the change, some outdoors enthusiasts remain on unequal footing on federal land.
Hunters and fishermen have for years complained, and understandably so, that they are required to buy a special permit to hunt and fish on U.S. Forest Service lands. Yet others who benefit from access to the national forest, be they hikers, bikers, campers, etc., get to play for free.
The national forest fishing and hunting stamp isn't expensive, but that's not the point.
And there yet remains a group that doesn't get equal access on Parkway lands.
Parkway trails are open to all manner of non-motorized use -- except bikes.
Now that hunters have been afforded equality, mountain bikers can hope that they will eventually be granted the same status, too.
