FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE02-50
December
16, 2002
Contact:
Charles Sturcken
(718) 595-6600
DEP
Announces Successful Pilot Bow Hunting Season. Future Expansion of Program
Under Review
Commissioner Christopher O. Ward, announced that the City’s first
bow hunting program in 30 years on selected watershed lands this fall
was a great success and that bow hunters responded enthusiastically to
opportunities to pursue the sport. Bow hunting season this year ran from
October 15 to November 17 and from December 11 to December 15, coinciding
with the State bow seasons for deer in the Southern region.
Commissioner Ward said, “This year’s opening of selected
locations to bow hunting for deer for the first time in 30 years on New
York City Water Supply lands was initially planned as an exploratory effort
and somewhat limited in scope. However, its obvious success is an incentive
for DEP to consider further expansion of bow hunting to other City-owned
watershed lands in future seasons.
This year, 200 bow hunters with proper New York State and DEP permits
had access to three of the City’s 41 deer hunting areas. The three
selected areas were the Horse Pound Brook Unit in the Town of Kent (Putnam
County), Flynn Brook in the towns of Andes and Colchester (Delaware County)
and Murphy Hill, also in the towns of Andes and Colchester. Two hundred
bow hunters were selected in a random drawing from over 1000 bow hunting
applications. The large number of bow applications received – nearly
one-third of all applications submitted to DEP – is an indication
of the popularity of bow hunting.
“We’re very pleased to see the City allowing some bow hunting”,
said John LaPadura, of the Westchester County Bow Hunters Association.
“We’ve talked to the City for years about it and hope that
this will lead to further expansion of hunting opportunities on City land.”
LaPadura pointed out that some City-owned hunting areas were hunted by
local community members for generations prior to the City’s stewardship.
“We see the opening of bow hunting as an indication that the City
is taking its commitments to local communities seriously,” he said.
In considering the opening of more areas to bow hunting, DEP will conduct
detailed reviews of properties that include consultation with local municipalities,
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the regional
Sporting Advisory Committees.
The City allows deer hunting under the DEP Public Access Permit system
in part to fulfill its commitments to watershed communities in the 1997
Memorandum of Agreement. Hunting is also a significant land management
tool, helping to curtail the negative water quality impacts of overbrowsing
by deer. Overbrowsing by deer limits regeneration of trees in watershed
forests, which in turn results in poor forest health, reduced water filtration
capacity, and increased potential for erosion of soils.
Further information on hunting, public access and recreation on City-owned
watershed lands is available at the DEP watershed recreation website (nyc.gov/watershedrecreation)
or by calling 1-800-575-LAND.