I’m writing this to anyone who lives in the Concord area and is a hunter, or is a non-hunter who sees the value in wildlife management.
New Hampshire has a long tradition of public land access for all types of recreational activities. I proudly participate in many of these, including hunting. You may or may not have heard that the conservation commission in Concord is putting together a “Trails Master Plan,” which should’ve been published this spring, but due to COVID-19 will hopefully be coming out this fall.
Prior to this, the city had some not-very-well-publicized public hearings and an online survey that citizens could use to voice their concerns. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t hear about either of these events until it was too late. There will be a final request for input when the Trails Master Plan proposal comes out in the fall.
I just attended recent virtual meetings of the Concord Conservation Commission and the trails subcommittee over the past week to voice my concerns over recent dramatic increases in trail usage and the potential impacts on local wildlife.
My one takeaway from this is that hunters need to make their voices heard.
While most of the folks involved with the conservation commission have no problem with licensed, legal hunting, there is only one person on that body who is a hunter. And there are a couple very vocal members who are decidedly anti-hunting – up to and including making baseless, negative, sweeping generalizations about hunters as a group.
I know this from accusations they leveled at hunters during the two meetings I recently attended. While the commission welcomes input from hunters in helping them craft their Trails Master Plan, they told me at these recent virtual meetings that I was the only hunter they’d heard from.
If hunters fail to provide their input into how Concord manages its trails on wild lands, the end result may well be a complete ban on hunting on any Concord trails land.
Other groups of recreational enthusiasts (mountain bikers, for example) have been key players in the process of shaping the Trails Master Plan from its inception. It will be our own fault as hunters if we fail to make our voices heard.
New Hampshire hunters, anglers, and trappers have always been very good about rallying together when we need to. Whenever there is a bill up for debate at the State House that seeks to take away our rights, we show up. But we need to also show up in this case.
I urge all hunters who either live in Concord or use Concord public lands to contact the Concord Conservation Commission and advocate for continued public land access for hunting. Remind them know that licensed, legal hunting has long-term benefits for all wild flora and fauna, that hunters provide a majority of funding for conservation efforts, including those for non-game species, and that hunters give back to the community in the form of programs like Hunters for the Hungry. Please email Beth Fenstermacher, the point person for the commission, at: bfenstermacher@concordnh.gov.
(Dan Williams lives in Concord.)