Hunting district to be debated

Orange County residents who enjoy the thrill of the hunt might soon have a chance to pursue their hobby in a new location.

At tonight’s board meeting, the Orange Water and Sewage Authority will discuss allowing limited hunting on a “mitigation tract” it bought in the early 1980s to make up for lost wildlife habitat.

The 500-acre site lies on the northern part of the Cane Creek watershed, to the west of Buckhorn Road, in the western part of the county.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission proposed that both the mitigation tract and the Cane Creek Reservoir be open for hunting.

But OWASA does not want to allow hunting at the reservoir because board members perceive the group’s primary goal as protecting water in its service area, board member Mac Clarke said.

Vice Chairman Milton Heath added, “We cannot allow hunting on the reservoir because it’s just too complicated and expensive.”

Instead, OWASA staff recommends that some hunting be allowed only on the mitigation site and that the land be enrolled in the commission’s Gamelands Program to help monitor hunting activity.

“We’re hoping (tonight) to reach a determination as to what the board will support,” Clarke said.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the Chapel Hill Town Hall.

Clarke said the board was under the impression that a compromise had been reached with the WRC that would allow limited hunting on the mitigation land and not the reservoir.

“They are talking about expanding what we had talked about,” Heath said.

Clarke said this is the first time OWASA has dealt with the issue because it does not own any land that allows hunting.

When OWASA purchased the tract, one of the provisions in the agreement stated that it would allow hunters to use the land.

Clarke said the situation at the time of the land’s purchase was different than what it is now. “Very few people lived in that area,” he said.

OWASA hosted a public meeting in early March to garner citizen comments, and several residents came to express their concerns about the proposal.

“I just want to make sure safety issues are brought forth,” resident Ted Hart said Wednesday.

He added that while he is glad OWASA is considering public opinion, he does not think the WRC is putting forth the same effort.

“They seem to want a win-lose situation which puts me and my horses and my family at risk,” he said. “I never intended to live next to an area where hunting was allowed.”

County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, a former OWASA chairman, said officials must find a balance between allowing and not allowing hunting and must determine when and where it should be legal.

“I’m not a hunter myself, but I think that it’s legal and it’s traditional, and in some cases it helps prevent overcrowding that helps other animals survive.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.