Closing public trails for hunting season? Closures by town, county and state anger cyclists and hikers

Long a hidden gem, the three-mile paved bike path in the Calverton Enterprise Park has seen an increase of cyclists and pedestrians this year enjoying one of the town’s only extended off-road trails.

But that also means more people have noticed the trail’s closure during bow-hunting season, which began October 1 and extends through December.

“This is one of the best times of the year to use the path,” said George Bartunek, a member of the town’s alternative transportation committee and a former town councilman. “To close it for people to go bow hunting – it doesn’t seem very fair to the general public.”

The path, which runs just over three miles along a section of the wooded perimeter of EPCAL, has been closed every fall at the start of bow-hunting season since the town began allowing hunters on the property in 2011. It also remains closed through shotgun season, which runs from January 1 to January 31.

This year, however, has been the first that the town has received any complaints.

“It’s the first year we’ve had any feedback,” said Councilman George Gabrielsen, liaison to the town’s wildlife management committee. “I guess it’s getting more popular this year.”

The town attorney’s office makes the decision to close the bike path under recommendation from the town’s wildlife management committee, Gabrielsen said. “That’s the way it’s always been done,” he said. “But in the future, we’re going to try to work something out.”

Riverhead began allowing bow-hunting on certain town properties, including EPCAL, four years ago as part of an effort to control deer population, in keeping with the state’s revised deer management plan. Since then, the town has closed the property’s bike trail, which was created in 2001, and its surrounding woods every deer-hunting season.

Next year, Gabrielsen says the town will probably look to keep the trail open by enforcing a 150-foot buffer from the trail. “The buffer is already there, but the season’s started already, and the hunters are already out there,” he said. “Just to be safe, we’ll wait until next year to work it out.”

About 75 hunters acquired bow-hunting permits from the town this season, Gabrielsen said.

But that number is not enough to justify closing a public facility to the whole town, according to Steve Kuhl, another member of the alternative transportation committee.

“I can guarantee you that on any day of the week, there’s more than 75 people trying to use that trail,” said Kuhl.

Kuhl lives directly across the street from EPCAL and makes daily use of the trail. The volume of residents also using the trail has increased “significantly” in recent years, he says.

“There are people cycling, people hiking, people who are pushing a stroller,” he said. “The reaction I get from almost everyone I stop and speak to is, ‘Wow, we didn’t even know this was here.’ People are starting to use it, and they think it’s a great thing.”

And for local cyclists and pedestrians, there is no comparable alternative in the area. The bike trail at EPCAL is completely off-road, so those utilizing the trail do not need to worry about motorized traffic. There is no similar paved non-motorized trail of such length anywhere on the East End or in Brookhaven, Kuhl said.

Bartunek echoed this sentiment. “You can’t even see the road for most of the trail,” he said. “It’s in wooded areas. It’s very beautiful.”

Kuhl and Bartunek, both members of the alternative transportation committee, are advocates of safer non-motorized transportation in both the town and the county.

“Cyclists get severely injured or killed on our roads out here every year,” Kuhl said. “Here’s a place where you can safely exercise and not have to worry about vehicular manslaughter, and we’re closing it for the entire fall season.”

Riverhead Town is not the only government entity to close a local parks and trails for deer season to make room for hunters. Bow-hunting for deer is now allowed in both Wildwood State Park in Wading River and Indian Island County Park in Riverhead. Sections of both parks will be off-limits to all but hunters during the hunting season, Kuhl said.

“This is when Long Island looks its best,” Kuhl said. “This is the optimum season right now, not only for cyclists, but anyone who hikes or walks. Our residents are being deprived of a wonderful resource.”