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WESTVACO DECREASES PUBLIC HUNTING ACREAGE
by
Steve McCadams
(From fall 2001)
www.stevemccadams.com
For more than 15 years,
Westvaco Timber Company has offered huge tracts of its timberland acreage
to public hunting under a program enforced by Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency.
The program has been very beneficial to deer, turkey, and small game
hunters who wanted to go yet really didn't have a place of their own. By
purchasing a $26 permit, plus tax, hunters immediately had access to
thousands of acres spread across portions of west and middle Tennessee.
"Things have changed this year and Westvaco Corporation is in the
process of selling a lot of its acreage due to changes in timber
management," said area superintendent Tom Cunningham, speaking from his
Paris office.
"While there is still some 24,000 acres available in the public hunt
program in Stewart and Houston counties, there is no more land open west
of the Tennessee River. The change took place this year due to changes
within our company. For years we have managed our acreage for the growth
of pine trees to service our paper mill located in Wickliffe, KY."
"We are making different products there now that require more
hardwoods. As a result, we are growing hardwood trees closer to the plant
and will also be buying hardwoods. Therefore, our acreage of loblolly
pines that was set up on twenty-year rotations no longer meet our needs so
we're selling a lot of it and private leasing some to hunt clubs,"
continued Cunningham.
"Westvaco was one of the first to enter lands under the public hunting
program and we did it under the umbrella of public relations. We promote
wildlife management on our lands and have had a good relationship with
sportsmen. Thousands of hunters have enjoyed the use of these areas for
many years and we hate to see the opportunities fade away."
Westvaco had been selling about 5,000 permits annually and while it
generated some revenue, officials say it never reached a level where it
paid their property taxes. While a few private leases raised more money,
the corporation turned down many private lease offers over the years in
order to keep the lion's share of acreage open to the public.
At its peak, Westvaco offered some 94,000 acres in the public hunting
program. Such counties as Henry, Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Chester,
McNairy, Hardeman, Henderson, and Weakley had tracts entered.
"Our office is getting a lot of calls from hunters but all the land
west of Kentucky Lake is no longer open. It's private ground now owned by
Doug Malden, a developer from Mississippi who is attempting to sell off
tracts to private hunting clubs," said Cunningham, himself a hunter who
lost his own hunting spot in the transition of the corporation.
Hunters can still purchase permits for Westvaco properties located on
the east side of the river. The $26 permit includes detailed maps of the
hunting area locations. Permits are still being sold at Hulmes' Sporting
Goods, Tower Sports Center, and Dover's LBL Bait Shop and Kentucky Lake
Market.
They can be purchased in Big Sandy at Doherty's Quick Mart and in
Tennessee Ridge at Ted's Market.
"I'm sure the total number of permit sales will drop off since there
is less area to hunt but it's simply a change in our overall management
program. Generally speaking, Westvaco has enjoyed a good relationship with
hunters on our timberlands."
Meanwhile, hunters are reminded that TWRA requires written permission
before hunting on private lands.
With the increasing population comes increasing demands for public
hunting opportunities. While TWRA has several wildlife management areas
scattered across the state, there's no doubt the diminishing acres in
Westvaco's public hunting program will add more pressure to both private
and state public hunt units.
The huge amount of land once offered by the corporation was a marriage
made in heaven for sportsmen who ventured here from all over the country.
It's sad to see the opportunities vanish but many hunters can be thankful
for the good years they enjoyed.
For a lot of hunters, not being able to return to that favorite ridge
deep in the woods where big bucks once roamed or that special clearing
where turkeys gobbled on a silent spring morning will be a tough pill to
swallow.
It's the end of an era in a outdoor world whose landscape is
constantly changing.
Steve McCadams
is a professional hunting and fishing guide here in the Paris Landing
area and host of The Outdoor Channel's television series IN-PURSUIT. |
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