Think of a large table, with a small tray in one corner. In the middle of that tray is a donut. That, in simplified terms, is the geographic situation in a Western Maryland battle over the Department of Natural Resources “No hunting” signs along public trails and roads around the Savage River Lodge off Old Frostburg Road and south of routes 68 and 40.
The large table represents the 54,000-acre Savage River State Forest; the tray, a small area of private lands outside the park; and the donut, a small (640 acres) area of non-contiguous Savage River State Forest. In the middle (the donut hole) is the 42-acre property on which owner Mike Dreisbach built his Savage River Lodge in 2000. “No hunting” signage on public land adjoining the property has hunters with a twist in their knickers.
On its face, it seems to be a case of flagrant favoritism for Dreisbach to prevent hunters from too closely approaching his property or trails and to protect his upscale guests during their hikes.
Never mind that his guests ? and everyone else ? have a right to walk through those (or other) public woods at any time of the year. Common sense suggests fluorescent orange ? something Dreisbach recommends also ? particularly as muzzleloading season approaches (Dec. 16-29 antlered and Dec. 30 antlered/antlerless on Region A public lands).
There is the standard 150-yard no-hunting exclusion near all occupied buildings. The anti-sign argument is that the DNR has no authority to post signs to protect trails or roads (not true), and that such for Dreisbach is favoritism smacking of incompetence and worse at the highest levels of the DNR.
But Examiner investigation suggests otherwise. There is DNR authority for closures, signage and other means to protect the public ? fishermen/hunters and non-sportsmen alike.
The 640-acre property in question is part of the Savage River State Forest on paper, although separated from it physically. Surrounding private properties separate it from other state land.
Lack of public access kept this an isolated “island,” on which hunting was only possible by contiguous landowners, their guests and friends. A patch of private land remained in the middle of this public “island.”
In the mid-1990s, Dreisbach bought this 42-acre private property, negotiated rights for an access road to reach his property, built a bridge across the Savage River and a parking area for up to 12 cars.
He was concerned about safety issues and asked the DNR to investigate, resulting in the current, now-infamous “no hunting/no loaded guns” signage on 193 acres of state forest around and including his lodge site.
That signage has local hunters in a stew, despite the fact that the Dreisbach-built road, bridge and parking lot provide new public hunting access to 489 acres (640 public, plus 42 private, minus 193 posted) of the original non-accessible public “island.” This is land that was previously unavailable to hunters. Now access is possible, and that?s a good thing.
Next column: Precedent for the DNR signage procedures, examples of similar safety protection, and net gains and losses to hunting lands for Maryland hunters.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors, and he has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected].
