Tensions flare over hunting around Utah Lake
Caleb Warnock - DAILY HERALD
As the saying goes, history repeats itself.
"When the pioneers came, they were drawn to places where they found water, wood, streams to fish [and] good hunting areas ...," wrote historians in a history of early Lindon. "Unfortunately, the land they chose -- the land around Utah Lake which had ample supply of these necessities -- had been the chosen haunts of the Indians for many years. ... Naturally they looked upon the coming of the white men as an invasion."
Now, conflict over the land around Utah Lake has broken out again. Saratoga Springs residents living on the shore of Utah Lake have had it with hunters taking geese and ducks within yards of their homes.
"I thought we were living in a civilized city," said Robert Kramer, who has lived in his lakeside home for more than a decade. "It is preposterous to me that people would be allowed to hunt so close. ... It is a dangerous situation."
Kramer is calling on county commissioners to make all hunting on Utah Lake illegal.
That raises the ire of Matt Clark, board member of the Utah Waterfowl Association.
"Our point is that we don't want to see development close to the lake," Clark said. "We don't want to see homes built down to the lake shore because that not only takes out waterfowl habitat, but it causes problems just like this."
And so tension surrounding the shores of Utah Lake, begun the day settlers arrived, continues in 2008.
More must be done to protect the historic rights of those who have hunted around the lake since settlement, Clark said.
With homes now dotting the shoreline on three sides of the lake, hunting simply cannot be tolerated any longer, Kramer said.
Both sides agree on one thing: Tension over the issue is only likely to grow as urbanization continues.
The law allows hunters to shoot within 200 yards of homes, said Ty Hunter, manager of Utah Lake State Park. Hunter said calls to his office by residents concerned about nearby hunters have been increasing in recent years.
Hunter said park rangers do respond, and occasionally find hunters out of bounds, but for the most part hunters are generally hunting within the law.
"There has been some pretty nasty responses to the hunters in Saratoga Springs," Hunter said.
It is important to note that many ballistics tests have shown that shotgun pellets do not travel more than 250 feet, Clark said.
Long experience shows that while it may be nerve-rattling to have shotguns blasting 600 feet from homes, that distance is safe for homeowners.
Kramer said that on at least one occasion, he has had shotgun pellets hit his home.
On the other hand, for too long, local planners have failed to protect the rights of hunters and the habitat of the lake, Clark said.
"In my mind, there should be a buffer zone a good mile around the whole lake, but that is never going to happen and has already been encroached on," Clark said.
