Woody Armor
Member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2015
- Messages
- 22
As can be seen on other forums with regards to this topic there are many hunters that are trying to figure what is going on with this decision.
When going to the current Hunting Guide for 2015 there is no mention that I could find about all of the secondary roads being closed off for the season. I know that buck only decisions have been made throughout the past few years and THAT IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE HUNTING GUIDE.
So only a handful of hunters even realize at this time that all of the roads at Cheatham are locked up. How unfortunate that many hunters that travel great distances will have no clue that this is the case until arriving at the WMA. Hmmm
Let's look at the available information materials that you have on the Cheatham WMA. Predominantly this is the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area Map that is available and currently is the only information I have personally seen at Randy Cromer's office ironically.
What bearing does this have on this extremely important and drastic situation???
Please allow me to present you with some direct quotes from the Informational Packet for Cheatham Wildlife Management Area.
1. "The TWRA currently has 10 miles of Type #2 gravel roads and 53 miles of Type #3 large gravel roads on Cheatham, and the Agency is in the process of renovating the existing road system to meet future needs."
Seems pretty concise as to what is offered at Cheatham Wildlife Management Area, especially for hunters that are doing research on the WMA and have not actually been at the property.
2. "The roads will improve hunter access and access to management activities."
This is even more precise and descriptive as to what people are to expect when planning to utilize this WMA for hunting or recreation. Definitely no confusion as to what the existing roads in the WMA are intended for. It clearly states it right in the pamphlet.
Yet many hunters, including myself, have had direct contact with Randy Cromer asking what could possibly be going on with the roads all being locked up even at this point right before season. Apparently the Cheatham Wildlife Management staff has decided to completely deviate from your written information printed on thousands of available maps and no update was made to the current Hunting Guide showing this hastily made change.
Public access is one of the most basic and fundamental tasks of a Wildlife Management Area which is clearly backed up by your own materials for Cheatham and many other Wildlife Management Areas.
I do not know who is truly driving this decision, but whoever or whatever group of individuals that have prompted it must have overlooked the clear designated purposes of the WMA according to it's own description and written statements.
It appears that this decision to close all of the secondary roads needs to be re-addressed in order for the Cheatham Wildlife Management area to realign itself with it's stated purpose and existence as a WMA.
Most all of the secondary roads are easily passable via vehicles and there has been a long Precedence of the secondary roads accessible and available to the public for years and years at Cheatham. There are no more incidents at Cheatham versus any of the other Wildlife management areas from my research.
Randy Cromer (manager) has been known to be planning for retirement for at least the past 2 years that I personally am aware of, so most of the Cheatham staff and the TWRA office have been fully aware of this for some time.
This is the only available PUBLIC hunting land that my family has within my area. It is the only option we have as hunters for a reasonable driving distance for public land. These lands are funded by the people and especially hunters. It is a shame to see what little PUBLIC land is available being restricted even further, especially for future generations of youth being introduced to the outdoors via public land offerings. These future generations are the means for the very existence and survival of the TWRA and WMA's after all.
I will definitely look forward to your reply to this very timely issue.
When going to the current Hunting Guide for 2015 there is no mention that I could find about all of the secondary roads being closed off for the season. I know that buck only decisions have been made throughout the past few years and THAT IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE HUNTING GUIDE.
So only a handful of hunters even realize at this time that all of the roads at Cheatham are locked up. How unfortunate that many hunters that travel great distances will have no clue that this is the case until arriving at the WMA. Hmmm
Let's look at the available information materials that you have on the Cheatham WMA. Predominantly this is the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area Map that is available and currently is the only information I have personally seen at Randy Cromer's office ironically.
What bearing does this have on this extremely important and drastic situation???
Please allow me to present you with some direct quotes from the Informational Packet for Cheatham Wildlife Management Area.
1. "The TWRA currently has 10 miles of Type #2 gravel roads and 53 miles of Type #3 large gravel roads on Cheatham, and the Agency is in the process of renovating the existing road system to meet future needs."
Seems pretty concise as to what is offered at Cheatham Wildlife Management Area, especially for hunters that are doing research on the WMA and have not actually been at the property.
2. "The roads will improve hunter access and access to management activities."
This is even more precise and descriptive as to what people are to expect when planning to utilize this WMA for hunting or recreation. Definitely no confusion as to what the existing roads in the WMA are intended for. It clearly states it right in the pamphlet.
Yet many hunters, including myself, have had direct contact with Randy Cromer asking what could possibly be going on with the roads all being locked up even at this point right before season. Apparently the Cheatham Wildlife Management staff has decided to completely deviate from your written information printed on thousands of available maps and no update was made to the current Hunting Guide showing this hastily made change.
Public access is one of the most basic and fundamental tasks of a Wildlife Management Area which is clearly backed up by your own materials for Cheatham and many other Wildlife Management Areas.
I do not know who is truly driving this decision, but whoever or whatever group of individuals that have prompted it must have overlooked the clear designated purposes of the WMA according to it's own description and written statements.
It appears that this decision to close all of the secondary roads needs to be re-addressed in order for the Cheatham Wildlife Management area to realign itself with it's stated purpose and existence as a WMA.
Most all of the secondary roads are easily passable via vehicles and there has been a long Precedence of the secondary roads accessible and available to the public for years and years at Cheatham. There are no more incidents at Cheatham versus any of the other Wildlife management areas from my research.
Randy Cromer (manager) has been known to be planning for retirement for at least the past 2 years that I personally am aware of, so most of the Cheatham staff and the TWRA office have been fully aware of this for some time.
This is the only available PUBLIC hunting land that my family has within my area. It is the only option we have as hunters for a reasonable driving distance for public land. These lands are funded by the people and especially hunters. It is a shame to see what little PUBLIC land is available being restricted even further, especially for future generations of youth being introduced to the outdoors via public land offerings. These future generations are the means for the very existence and survival of the TWRA and WMA's after all.
I will definitely look forward to your reply to this very timely issue.
