AUGUSTA – Little do people know, hunting is allowed at Range Ponds State Park in Poland, said Rep. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, along with most other state parks.

She fears for the safety of those using the park for other activities, so Thursday she presented a bill to the Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee to make hunting in the park a civil violation as a measure to avoid accidents or tragedy.

“Range Ponds State Park is handicap accessible and enjoys a high volume of visitors…” Craven said in written testimony. “Hunting is not an activity that this state park can safely accommodate.”

Willard Harris, director of the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Maine Department of Conservation, opposed the bill.

The park is closed to hunting from May 1 to Sept. 30 – peak time for visitors pursuing other activities, Harris said, so hunting can occur in certain sections of the park without risk.

In the off-season, “Visitors are encouraged to walk in the park and enjoy themselves, but the toilets, water and amenities are closed for the season,” Harris said. Signs are posted, and visitors are encouraged to make themselves visible.

Rules allowing hunting there have been in place since the 1970s, Harris said, and there has never been a safety-related problem.

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