This issue at the Elms has been going on for at least 3 years and its been a very difficult fight. It is not a fight to gain more land to hunt, it IS a fight to keep what was already designated as a managed wildlife area. The board of education has managed to grab land that they had no right to under the legal lease that was signed between them and the BOCC. I personally drove one of the CCs down to the Elms to look at the property and explain the situation to him and he agreed that it was wrong and needed to and would be fixed. However, as usual it turned out to be a case of empty words. I have attended nearly every single meeting dealing with this situation over the last 3 years and it is the same thing every single time. Words, no action.
Maryland DRN does not have enough resorces (so they say) to manage any sort of "open hunt" scenarios.
Some farmers may be willing to let you hunt for nothing more than a knock on the door and a hand shake, but that is not the case much any more. More and more of them are now charging a lease fee...up to $35 per acre per year. It has turned into a business. I'm sure that may not be the way it is with a home-grown local county person, but for anyone without a long standing local connection...nope.
