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Hunting May be Regulated on Paris Preserve

August 22, 2011 - Paris — A conflict between hunters and hikers in the Cornwall Preserve off Paris Hill Road has led to a discussion about whether new rules are needed to ensure that the two types of recreational users can coexist peacefully.

During an August 8 meeting of the Paris Board of Selectmen, board members agreed to hold a public hearing on the matter.

Franca Ainsworth, the head of the Cornwall Conservation Commission, says that she raised the issue with the town after a group of hikers reported an unpleasant verbal encounter with a group of hunters.

Ainsworth says that the hunters shot their guns into the air, and made "rude comments" after asserting their rights to use the land.

"I don't know exactly what they said, but it was not polite conversation," said Ainsworth. "The fact that these guys were shooting off their guns next to the trails with people in them is a danger."

Paul Brook, owner of Woodman's Sporting Goods in Norway, says that the hunters do have the right to use the land, but that there is no need for conflict.

"On the flip side of the coin, there are plenty of other woods for hunters to hunt in," he said.

Brook said that one possible solution might be to post signage on the borders of the 147-acre preserve.

"I don't mind seeing signs that say 'hunting by landowner permission only,'" he said. "They might consider doing that there."

Ainsworth said that she wouldn't want to see hunting activities eliminated from the Cornwall Preserve, and that hunters have done a lot to help maintain the preserve by clearing trails of fallen trees, and voluntarily picking up litter.

The problem, said Ainsworth, lies with a small number of hunters that don't act responsibly. In addition to the rowdy behavior she has had described to her, she says that hunters have also left deposits of entrails alongside brooks that are too small to carry the waste away. Ainsworth would not name the individuals involved in the conflict.

"Maybe they should register that they're going in to hunt," said Ainsworth.

Lee Dassler manages the nearby Roberts Farm Preserve, a similarly-sized preserve in Norway that allows unrestricted hunting.

"We haven't had any problems in Roberts Farm," said Dassler.

Dassler suggested that a registration system would help the town to learn more about how the preserve is used.

"Thats a small price to pay for access to a hunting ground," she said. "It would be a good way for the town to track how many hunters are using it and maybe the catch."

Ultimately, said Dassler, both hikers and hunters have to learn to meet in the middle.

"Everyone's got to make a little bit of a compromise," she said. "Hikers know they're going have to wear blaze orange in the fall, and hunters may have to follow a carry out kind of philosophy that if you do have a kill, then you take everything off the land. That seems a very civil approach."

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, Advertiser Democrat, August 2011


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