06-15-2007, 04:19 AM
[url "http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/1editorialtablebody.lasso?-token.searchtype=authorroutine&-token.lpsearchstring=Kirk%20Pinho&-nothing"]Kirk Pinho[/url] ![[Image: z.gif]](http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/images/z.gif)
June 06, 2007 - It appears the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will allow Commerce Township's elected officials to close a 40-acre area located west of Benstein Road to hunting, according to Township Supervisor Tom Zoner.
Zoner said he has forwarded to the DNR the legal description and map of the area so the department can complete the proper documentation to send back to the township's governing body for consideration. However, as of Friday, June 1, Zoner said he hadn't received copies of the documentation.
Whether the township decides to close the area to hunting is to be discussed by the Board of Trustees on Tuesday, June 12. A majority of township board members would have to vote in favor of such a measure.
The area includes a portion of Twin Suns Lake.
"I might put it on the agenda, but we might not take any action on it unless we get something (from the DNR)," Zoner said. "If they send me something, it will go on (the agenda)."
Mary Detloff, public information officer for the DNR, said that the way the process of closing an area to hunting usually works is that the local unit of government sends the department a request to close an area. What the DNR then does is evaluate public safety concerns.
According to Detloff, a given community has no authority to close an area to hunting without the permission or concurrence of the DNR.
Some residents of Twin Suns Lake area have expressed concerns about hunting in the area, which they claim was causing both public safety risks and was a nuisance to homeowners in the area because of the noise.
However, some have voiced their opposition to the potential hunting closure. At least one resident has claimed that hunters were being harassed and were intimidating that man's son, who he said was hunting in the area with a legal hunting license.
Some who are in favor of closing the area to hunting have said some children and adults were hit by pellets from guns used to hunt ducks, and that some children had also come close to being hit with pellets.
Hunting opponents in February at a hearing held by the DNR cited several alleged incidents where homes had been hit by the pellets, including residences on Twin Sun Circle they said had been hit between eight and 14 times during the last duck hunting season. Houses in Hidden Paradise have also been hit, according to advocates for closing the area to hunting.
Those in favor of closing the area, located west of Benstein Road, also said their concerns aren't based on an anti-hunting philosophy; and that some of those in the area who favor making the lake off-limits to hunting are hunters themselves.
Some were claiming that hunters were firing within, or shooting at birds or animals located within, a 450-foot safety zone, as measured from the nearest occupied residence. That would be a violation of DNR regulations. Hunting proponents argued that claim.
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June 06, 2007 - It appears the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will allow Commerce Township's elected officials to close a 40-acre area located west of Benstein Road to hunting, according to Township Supervisor Tom Zoner.Zoner said he has forwarded to the DNR the legal description and map of the area so the department can complete the proper documentation to send back to the township's governing body for consideration. However, as of Friday, June 1, Zoner said he hadn't received copies of the documentation.
Whether the township decides to close the area to hunting is to be discussed by the Board of Trustees on Tuesday, June 12. A majority of township board members would have to vote in favor of such a measure.
The area includes a portion of Twin Suns Lake.
"I might put it on the agenda, but we might not take any action on it unless we get something (from the DNR)," Zoner said. "If they send me something, it will go on (the agenda)."
Mary Detloff, public information officer for the DNR, said that the way the process of closing an area to hunting usually works is that the local unit of government sends the department a request to close an area. What the DNR then does is evaluate public safety concerns.
According to Detloff, a given community has no authority to close an area to hunting without the permission or concurrence of the DNR.
Some residents of Twin Suns Lake area have expressed concerns about hunting in the area, which they claim was causing both public safety risks and was a nuisance to homeowners in the area because of the noise.
However, some have voiced their opposition to the potential hunting closure. At least one resident has claimed that hunters were being harassed and were intimidating that man's son, who he said was hunting in the area with a legal hunting license.
Some who are in favor of closing the area to hunting have said some children and adults were hit by pellets from guns used to hunt ducks, and that some children had also come close to being hit with pellets.
Hunting opponents in February at a hearing held by the DNR cited several alleged incidents where homes had been hit by the pellets, including residences on Twin Sun Circle they said had been hit between eight and 14 times during the last duck hunting season. Houses in Hidden Paradise have also been hit, according to advocates for closing the area to hunting.
Those in favor of closing the area, located west of Benstein Road, also said their concerns aren't based on an anti-hunting philosophy; and that some of those in the area who favor making the lake off-limits to hunting are hunters themselves.
Some were claiming that hunters were firing within, or shooting at birds or animals located within, a 450-foot safety zone, as measured from the nearest occupied residence. That would be a violation of DNR regulations. Hunting proponents argued that claim.
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