| Title: | The Hunting Notesfile | 
| Notice: | Registry #7, For Sale #15, Success #270 | 
| Moderator: | SALEM::PAPPALARDO | 
| Created: | Wed Sep 02 1987 | 
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 | 
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 | 
| Number of topics: | 1561 | 
| Total number of notes: | 17784 | 
    I would like to ask your help in trying to get Fort Devens, in Ayer,
    Mass. reopened for hunting next year.  
    
    Fort Devens has 3,315 areas that have been open for hunting before
    last year.  It contains some beautiful cover for grouse, rabbits,
    woodcock, and deer.  It has also been stocked for pheasants, but
    not as heavily as WMAs.  
    
    Last season a new commanding officer arrived and decided not to
    allow hunting for safety reasons since others in charge are also
    new now.  Maybe he plans to reopen it next year anyway, but I fear
    that they will keep it closed if it is easier for them.  PLEASE
    write your US congressmen, Senators, and the commanding officer
    and create as much pressure as possible for them to reopen the
    area.  There is too little open land in this area to loose 3,000+
    acres of 'public' land.
    
    I will try to put sample letters as replies next week to make it
    easier for y'all.
    
    The commanding officer's address is:
    
    
    	Commanding Officer Richard W. Hoover
    	Headquarters Building P-1
    	Fort Devens, Mass
    			  01433-5000
    
    
    Thanks in advance for your support,
    Mark
    
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 608.1 | Sample letter to the commanding officer | CLUSTA::STORM | Thu Feb 15 1990 11:06 | 49 | |
| 
                                             February 13, 1990
          Commanding Officer Richard W. Hoover
          Headquarters Building P-1
          Fort Devens, MA
                         01433-5000
          Dear Officer Hoover:
          I am writting to urge you to reopen hunting  access  to
          Fort  Devens  this  coming  fall.   I  realize that you
          closed it last year for safety reasons  with  many  new
          people  in  charge.   I  am sure those concerns will be
          overcome before October.
          Prior to  fall  of  1989,  I  enjoyed  several  hunting
          seasons  at Fort Devens.  I believe opening Fort Devens
          for hunting provided good community relations  for  the
          Army.   Hunters can see the organization and efficiency
          with which you  operate.   Also,  opening  Fort  Devens
          allows shared access to valuable woodlands.
          Fort   Devens   offers   quality   hunting.    Wildlife
          Management  Areas in central Mass are over burdened and
          can not compare to the experience of  hunting  at  Fort
          Devens.   In  short, 3,300 acres of undeveloped land in
          this area is becoming too  rare  to  disallow  multiple
          use.
                                             Sincerely,
                                             Mark W. Storm
                                             119 Rideout Rd
                                             Hollis, NH
                                                        03049
 | |||||
| 608.2 | Sample letter to U.S. Congressman | CLUSTA::STORM | Thu Feb 15 1990 11:07 | 52 | |
| 
                                             February 13, 1990
          U. S. Congressman Chuck Douglas
          Longworth Hob, Room 1338
          Washington, D.C.
                         20515
          Dear Congressman Douglas:
          I am writting to request your help  in  persuading  the
          U.S.   Army  to reopen hunting access to Fort Devens in
          Ayer, Mass.   this  coming  fall.   Commanding  Officer
          Richard Hoover was new to the base last year.  Since he
          and others in charge were new, he decided to closed  it
          last year for safety reasons.  I respect that decision,
          but I am sure those concerns can  be  corrected  before
          next October.
          Prior to  fall  of  1989,  I  enjoyed  several  hunting
          seasons  on  the  3,300  acres  open to hunting at Fort
          Devens.  I believe  opening  Fort  Devens  for  hunting
          provided   good   community  relations  for  the  Army.
          Hunters could see the organization and efficiency  with
          which  you operated, and could utilize and share access
          to valuable woodlands.
          Fort Devens offers  quality  hunting.   Public  hunting
          areas  in  this  area  are  over  burdened  and can not
          compare to the experience of hunting  at  Fort  Devens.
          In  short, 3,300 acres of undeveloped land in this area
          is becoming too rare to disallow mulitiple use.
                                             Sincerely,
                                             Mark W. Storm
                                             119 Rideout Rd
                                             Hollis, NH
                                                        03049
 | |||||
| 608.3 | Curious | DELNI::G_FISHER | Fri Aug 31 1990 15:21 | 3 | |
|     Heard anything new on this?
    
    Guy
 | |||||
| 608.4 | CLUSTA::STORM | Tue Sep 04 1990 13:10 | 16 | ||
|     I only got a response from them through my Congressman.  It was
    pretty much what I expected.  They said their training needs came
    first (which I agreed with) but didn't really answer any of my
    direct questions. 
    
    I am hoping they will reopen it eventually, if not this year.  As
    you probably know they are changing the role of Fort Devens over
    the next few years.  I think they are moving some of the communications
    stuff there.  I'm not certain that's right, but it will be mostly
    civillian workers and I'm guessing not much need for all those birdy
    areas to train in.  Micheal Virgil spoke with some of the Central
    Mass F&W people last week.  At that time they did not know if Devens
    would be open for this fall or not.
    
    Mark,
    
 | |||||