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    8 Cumberland Today August 14, 2013

    Cumberland Today Sports

    Hunt club making goodon pledge to preservestates natural resources

    By Katie Bo WilliamsContributing writer

    T

    wenty minutes south of Cartersville,a pack of close to 80 fox hounds

    bay from their kennel runs, givingtongue to trailers of horses pulling into thedriveway.

    At 8 oclock on a Saturday morning,members of the Deep Run Hunt Club willride through the local countryside surround-ing Route 45. They are not hunting at thistime of year, but getting horses and houndsfit for the coming season.

    The Deep Run kennels have calledCumberland County home since 2003, whenbuilding development in Goochland forcedthe club to look farther west for sufficient

    land to enjoy their sport.The average fox hunt requires 2,000 con-

    tiguous acres to execute, making fox hunters

    some of the most avid proponents of ruralpreservation.

    Deep Run is a proactive member of thelocal community, organizing trail-clearingefforts, volunteering with the state forest andproviding education on the benefits of con-servation easements.

    For fox hunters, this kind of community-minded outlook is essential to the future ofthe sport.

    Master of Fox Hounds Rod Smyth esti-mates that between 80 to 90 percent of theland that the club hunts over is not owned by

    club members, but by local landowners withwhom the club has a relationship.

    In the early 1950s, when the club made itsfirst move west from the Monument Avenuearea to Goochland County, club board mem-bers purchased large tracts of land for theclub to hunt over.

    Now, the club must rely on outside land-owners like Dr. Julian Metts and CatherineBaber Fleischman.

    Fleischman is not an active member of

    Send in the

    Send in theHOUNDSHOUNDSPhoto by Katie Bo Williams

    Junior members of the Deep Run Hunt Club pal around with the clubs hounds. The average fox hunt requires 2,000 contiguous acres to execute, making fox hunters some of the mostavid proponents of rural preservation.

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    Cumberland Today August 14, 2013 9

    the club, but is an entrenchedmember of the clubs commu-

    nity and a vocal proponent ofthe relationship between foxhunting and land ownershipas the pathway to the protec-tion of rural living.

    I am a landowner whois truly vested in the benefitsthat fox hunting can bring to arural community because it isa group of individuals who areinterested in rural preserva-tion, Fleischman said.

    Like most sophisticatedhunting organizations, thefox hunting community takespride in its naturalist approachto the country that it enjoys.

    The club works with theDepartment of Game andInland Fisheries, the VirginiaOutdoors Foundation andthe Virginia Master NaturalistProgram, a statewide volun-teer corps, which, according toits mission statement provides

    education, outreach and ser-vice dedicated to the benefi-cial management of naturalresources and natural areaswithin their communities.

    Its not just that we ridehorses, its that we are natural-ists in the sense that any hunt-er is a naturalist, Fleischmansaid. They have to be awareof habitat and game and landissues and conservation inorder to truly appreciate the

    sport.Some Virginia hunt

    clubs have taken a proactiveapproach to land preservation,requiring members to contrib-ute to the longevity of thesport by either owning landthemselves or by contribut-ing to a land fund. The fundmonies are used to purchasehuntable country and placehunting or conservation ease-ments on the property, whichis then sold. Although the facevalue of the land might bediminished by any easement

    placed on it, there are signifi-cant tax advantages associatedwith state-approved conserva-tion easements.

    Deep Run is beginning toexplore a similar model on amore modest scale. Fleischman,along with Smyth and clubmember Caroline Eichler, havebegun studying the options ofputting together a land fundintended to purchase small keytracts of land in the clubs huntcountry. The club is currentlyactive in Goochland, Fluvannaand Cumberland counties.

    Sometimes you can have

    a parcel thats as little as 10 or15 acres but might be in a verystrategic position within thecountry, a critical way for thestaff (huntsman managing thehounds) or the field (riders) toget from one place to another,Smyth said. You can purchaseand put both a conservationand a hunting easement onit. You acknowledge that youmight sell it for less than youbuy it for, but you preserve itfor hunting.

    Smyth and Fleischmanemphasized the community

    benefits of this kind of activ-ity. Smyth used the Goochlandproperty Sabot Hill as anexample of the financial as

    well as the social benefits of thepreservation of open space.Development in the Sabot

    Hill area is restricted by anextensive series of easementsand the value of the propertiesis augmented as a result.

    Smyth, a resident of theSabot Hill area, emphasizedthat purchasers are willing topay a premium because of theassurance that they will neverhave a housing development

    built in their back yard.For Fleischman, the two

    benefits financial and social are inseparable. She and herfamily are longtime landown-ers in Cumberland, and shesaid she believes that thereneeds to be a paradigm shiftfor natural places to be valu-able for what they provide:places to ride or live near, asopposed to what they are usedfor such as lumber or develop-ment.

    We have to realize thatopen spaces are valuable and

    those that have open spacesbenefit financially from them;otherwise, they wont haveany open spaces, Fleischman

    said. Thats why I wake upevery morning in CumberlandCounty and try to live thisstandard that promotes thefinancial and social benefitthat combine to make openspaces prevalent and impor-tant.

    Smyth summed up theclubs proactive efforts as apart of a larger, importantcommunity effort to preservethose open spaces.

    The more land is put intoeasements, the more everybodywho appreciates the coun-tryside benefits, Smyth said.Fox hunting is just a subsetof that. We just happen to bea group with a vested interest just like deer hunting clubs.Anyone who is interested inwalking, riding or hunting onthe land, clearly, the first thingthey need is land. Cumberlandis not at immediate risk ofextensive development, butthat doesnt mean it will bethat way forever.

    Contributed report

    On Sept. 15, 22 and 29, Bear Creek Lake State Park,in cooperation with the Va. Department of Gameand Inland Fisheries Angler Education Program, willoffer fishing clinics open to all ten years old and older,but geared especially to youth and beginning anglers.Each program will begin at 1 p.m. and last about threehours.

    During the program, participants will learn anglingskills such as casting, line knot tying, reeling in the bigone, uses of different types of lures, aquatic habitats and

    fish biology. Lessons will be held on shore, so no fish-ing license is required for those over age 16. Childrenunder 12 years old must be accompanied by a parent orresponsible adult. At the end of each clinic, those underage 16 and those older with a valid Virginia fresh waterfishing license can try out their skills in the lake.

    This is a great opportunity for a family picnic whileparticipants learn to handle rod and reel. All equip-ment will be provided. There is no fee for this program,although the Parks daily weekend parking fee of $3 pervehicle will apply.

    Only 15 spaces per clinic are available. To registerfor any of the dates, or for information, contact thePark at [email protected], or call (804) 492-4410. Bear Creek Lake State Park is located at 22 BearCreek Lake Rd. in Cumberland.

    * * *

    On Saturday mornings in September, from 9 a.m.until 11 a.m., Bear Creek Lake State Park will offer aYouth Archery Course for 9 to 16 year olds. This is afour session activity to be held September 7, 14, 21and 28. The program will teach the fundamentals ofarchery technique and equipment using compoundand recurve bows.

    Each week will feature increased skills and chal-lenges covering beginning and intermediate archery.Completion of the four-day program will entitle par-ticipants to a Bear Creek Lake State Park ArcherCertificate. A friendly competition will be held thefinal day, with family and friends invited. In the eventof cancellation of a day due to inclement weather, theprogram will be extended into October to make up anymissed days.

    All equipment will be provided for use during theprogram. Water and snacks will be provided.Cost forthe four-day session is $15. Only 10 spaces are avail-able.

    To register for the program, or for more informa-tion, please contact the park at [email protected], or (804) 492-4410.

    Hounds

    continued from > 9

    Photo by Katie Bo Williams

    Master of Fox Hounds Rod Smyth plays with one of Deep Run Hunt Clubs fox hound puppy.

    Bear Creek Laketo offer Fishin in

    the Park clinics