3/06/10 — With the deer hunting season ending last week, the Deer Task force is already looking ahead to expand the time allowed for hunting on Block Island next season. The Town Council will discuss the allotted time for archery, muzzleloader and shotgun hunting later this spring.

Currently the time allowed for each type of weapon does not overlap with the others. Task force member and local police officer Paul Deane said that he thought the archery season could be expanded to run concurrently with shotgun hunting.

Deane explained that in previous years the Town Council separated the seasons because of complaints over safety issues; however, he said that if hunters take proper safety precautions, like wearing orange, there shouldn’t be a problem.

At its previous meeting, the task force decided to ask for clarification from island Police Chief Vincent Carlone on how the police plan to enforce an existing Rhode Island law that prohibits discharging a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied home in the future.

“I talked to the chief and he said that the burden has always been on the hunter and will always be on the hunter,” Deane said. “We haven’t had many issues with this in the past and I don’t foresee many in the future.”

Currently the police permission slip that every hunter is required to sign informs hunters of the law and requires that they abide by it. The system of enforcement is on a case-by-case basis in response to a specific complaint.

Conservation property

The task force is continuing its work to identify conservation properties that would be beneficial for hunting. Task force Chair Mary Sue Record went through deeds held by the Block Island Conservancy and found 10 that had restrictions against hunting but also 22 that had no restrictions.

Deane along with task force member Becky Ballard went through all the hunting permission slips. They found that roughly 195 properties allow hunting on Block Island. Town GIS coordinator Martha Roldan will use that information to create a digital map of island hunting locations.

Task force members Ballard, Deane, Maggie Komosinski and either Chris Blane or Chris Blansfield will utilize the town GIS maps to identify specific pieces of property to pursue hunting permission.

Ideally they will identify conservation lands that are adjacent to lands that already allow hunting. Record said they should look for properties that have the “biggest bang for the buck.”

DEM meeting

Department of Environmental Management representatives will be at the next task force meeting. They will discuss the deer herd survey DEM conducted in January indicating that Block Island’s herd size was six times the healthy level.

The task force will ask for the exact method used to count the deer and what DEM plans to do moving forward.

Another issue to be discussed is the application process for a permit to hunt out of season if you can prove that deer have caused damage to your property. Some task force members thought there should be an option to apply based on Lyme disease concerns. Currently the only route is based on property damage, which Record said seemed to be gears toward farmers.

DEM is also working on its own herd reduction plan. Task force member George Mellor thought that one big push over a single year would help bring the herd back to manageable levels.

“I think we should campaign over one year, call it the ‘deer year,’ and try to take 500 in one year,” Mellor said. “Then going forward it will be easier to handle.”