The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently proposed a plan to increase hunting areas in these Wildlife Refuges in Massachusetts: Assabet River, Great Meadows and Oxbow. The plan expands hunting to include bear, fox, and coyote, in addition to the migratory birds, deer, turkey, cottontail rabbit and gray squirrel already allowed. Without a comprehensive study in the last 15 years, the U.S. government contends that "bear, fox and coyote are abundant enough throughout the state to withstand increased hunting, and that fox and coyote do not serve significant purposes in wildlife management." We know that fox and coyote do play important roles by reducing the deer population (coyotes) and killing rodents and other small mammals, helping to reduce the deer tick population. As for bear - it is not even known whether there are any in these refuges due to the lack of a study. In addition, our bird population (all types) has declined by some 3 billion birds over the last 5 decades. Is this a good time to increase opportunities to add to that decline? The USFWS claims there has been a decline in hunting across the nation and in most states, which they claim could be due to "lack of access", however hunters already have access to over 90% of Assabet River and Oxbow Refuges and over 68% of Great Meadows.
Local residents and visitors along with their families enjoy walking the trails, jogging, hiking, cycling, observing and filming wildlife, and bird-watching in these tranquil areas. This proposal appears to give hunters preference and they are a very small minority of the number of visitors who use these parks. Costs of this plan are currently estimated at $48,500 initially with more than $41,000 annually for maintenance, amounts that would increase the burden on an already underfunded system making overall maintenance and enforcement of regulations even more difficult than currently.
We, the undersigned petitioners, are firmly against this USFWS plan to increase the acreage open to hunting on MA wildlife refuges, and we request an immediate withdrawal of the proposal. It's unfair to those who enjoy the tranquil refuges, unfair to make the majority of taxpayers who do not hunt pay increased taxes for those that do, and it's unfair to the wildlife who try to survive there.
