THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280044
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 56 lines
Donald McClellan of Virginia Beach was in a tree stand in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge about 7 a.m. Friday, but not a single deer was in sight.
Noise from nearby timber-cutting machinery had frightened away any deer that might have been around, McClellan said. And the high water that surrounded his perch made it hard to get into the swamp - and encouraged mosquitoes.
``They don't want you in there, period,'' the carpenter for Tidewater Construction Co. said. ``There aren't too many public lands open to hunters anymore. Now they're trying to run hunters out of the swamp.''
So on Sunday, McClellan got into his pickup truck and made the long trek from his home near the Oceanfront to a rural field in Suffolk to join more than 30 other hunters from throughout Hampton Roads.
They met to protest management methods in the 49,097-acre wildlife refuge that straddles the cities of Suffolk and Chesapeake and spills into North Carolina.
Along with other changes, they want to see roads cleared and a network of drainage ditches opened to make it easier to get into the swamp.
``If you're not handicapped, and you don't hunt, you can go in there all you want,'' said Stephen Thompson of Suffolk. ``But if you can't walk, you can't get in. And if you're a hunter, you're not wanted.''
The meeting was organized by Bass Hunt Club, one of the state's oldest hunt clubs, with a small headquarters just off Whitemarsh Road. The rural route borders the swamp and leads to the property of Jerry Bass, where the meeting was held.
Bass, who is retired, is a former union leader at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and a former business agent for the AFL-CIO.
The swamp's water level is a particular concern for the hunters. Locks on a system of drainage ditches have been closed, they said, causing the water level to rise and making it impossible for hunters to make their way through.
``Within 50 to 60 yards, once you walk in, you're up to your knees in water,'' said Ronald Hill, a retired shipyard worker from Portsmouth. ``All of this water will do more than keep us out, it'll kill the undergrowth that the deer feed on.''
On Sunday, Bass called for the hunters to unite. He said he will be meeting this week with people in U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky's office. And he hopes that by early November the hunters will be able to hold another meeting with officials from Suffolk, Chesapeake, North Carolina, Virginia and the federal government.
Bass said his group doesn't expect to be able to do anything about this year's hunting season. But they would like to see the limited refuge season extended, eventually, to the same schedule as the rest of the state - Oct. 1 through Nov. 31.
``We - as the American working class - if we lose hunting, we're going to lose a whole lot more,'' Bass said. MEMO: For more information about the group, call Bass at (757) 986-4092. by CNB