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Can students, hunters share Elms Beach land?
Friday, April 3, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by REID SILVERMAN
Margarita Rochow and Carver Elementary School first-grader Lizet Cano check out a spotted salamander at the environmental education center at the Elms Beach property near Dameron. The county leases 476 acres from the state and some hunters feel they are being pushed off parts of the property.
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There are more than 1,000 acres of public land between Route 235 and the Chesapeake Bay known as Elms Beach near Dameron. Originally purchased by the state as a site for a new power plant in 1975, the land is used both by hunters and by the public schools for environmental studies.
The St. Mary's County commissioners renewed the county's lease agreement in 2004 with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to use 476 acres of the 1,020.
With the space designated for public school students and a safety buffer zone, some of the hunters who had been using the state lands there said they were being pushed back because the state won't regulate hunting on the county land beyond the buffer.
Of the 476 acres leased by the county, 230 are used for a public park, the education portion and the safety buffer. It is the use of the remaining 246 acres that is in dispute.
A compromise between hunting and environmental education interests hasn't been found, and nothing was resolved Tuesday by the county commissioners.
The Elms Property Advisory Committee recommended some portions of the county-leased property be opened to hunting, about 60 more acres.
David Heilmeier of the wildlife and heritage division of DNR said the state is not comfortable regulating hunting on lands used by students for safety and liability reasons. "My unit is not willing to sanction hunting on a St. Mary's County school property. We're not comfortable with that. We're not going to do that," he said.
Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D) kept reminding Heilmeier the property was leased by the county commissioners and not the board of education.
Heilmeier said hunters could drive 12 miles away from Elms Beach to hunt on 836 acres of state property off Indian Bridge Road adjoining St. Mary's Lake.
Michael Martirano, superintendent of St. Mary's public schools, said his first priority is the safety of the students visiting Elms Beach. Because there is a "real sense of frustration" on both sides of the issue, he suggested a smaller group be formed to find a solution. "We have a lot of emotional interests vested in this," he said.
Last year, 6,384 students visited the environmental center at Elms Beach, according to information presented by the advisory committee. During the 2008-2009 hunting season, 405 hunters made reservations to hunt on the state portion of Elms Beach, which was an increase of 260 people from the year before. The range of deer killed there has been between five and 16 a season.
Commissioner Larry Jarboe (R) said the Elms property should be split down the middle for hunters and students.
Commission President Francis Jack Russell (D) said the entire conflict "seems to be convoluted and more convoluted all the time. We've got to massage this some, God forbid."
Mattingly said Wednesday, "Clearly the Elms group doesn't seem to be able to come to any compromise that is acceptable."
Otherwise, the public park portion of Elms Beach is "getting loved to death," Phil Rollins, director of St. Mary's recreation and parks department, said Tuesday about the number of visitors. There is parking for 50 to 75 vehicles, and holiday weekends can see 150 to 200. Staff is contemplating an entrance fee to be imposed this year.
The pavilion there and other structures recently were damaged when one or more culprits stole an excavator and took it down to the park. Three suspects were arrested this week.
After the meeting, Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D) criticized the demeanor of DNR staff. "If you come with a bad attitude, you're going to generate an attitude," he told a group in the lobby of the Chesapeake Building.
Mattingly said Wednesday, "I didn't appreciate his presentation either. He brought an attitude."
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources initially purchased 783 acres at Elms Beach for $1.3 million on Feb. 14, 1975.
