Committee to be formed for My Ben site plan

The site, 63 acres of which is in Stockton, could be used for hunting, environmental education and hiking, among other things.

By: Linda Seida
   STOCKTON — The borough still does not have a management plan in place for the My Ben tract, but officials are planning to form an ad hoc committee to make recommendations.
   It could turn into a hot debate because the plan likely will have to address methods of deer control, which is typically controversial.
   The 92-acre site was preserved as open space in 2004. The state is waiting for the borough to put together a plan for how the site will be used, which could include hiking, hunting and environmental education.
   More than 62 acres lie in Stockton, and the rest is in Delaware Township. Unlike other preserved sites in the state, this one is unique in that Stockton gets to write its own management plan, Borough Council President Michael Hagerty said. The town will have a say in the types of activities that will occur there, including hunting.
   Hunterdon County has a large deer population. Stockton must decide how best to control the deer within its borders and whether to allow hunting on the site, which is adjacent to the town’s elementary school.
   Delaware Township has said it will allow hunting on its portion of the preserved acreage. The township has asked Stockton to consider a similar arrangement.
   Stockton has not yet made a decision concerning Delaware Township’s request. Because of required buffer zones, hunters could only use about half of Stockton’s 63 acres, Mr. Hagerty said.
   Nor will the borough go the way of a Pennsylvania neighbor, according to Mr. Hagerty.
   Attempts to thin a large deer population across the Delaware River in Solebury Township became divisive when officials there signed a two-year, $250,000 contract, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services that brings in sharpshooters to cull the deer population, including fawns and their mothers.
   Stockton is not considering a similar contract with the federal agency. For one thing, the sharpshooters have cost Solebury an amount that equals approximately half of Stockton’s annual budget.
   For another, just the initial stage of discussion concerning whether to allow hunters there during deer season has become "controversial," according to Mr. Hagerty.
   "People are passionate about it," Mr. Hagerty said. "They’re either for or against it."
   Hunting is just one component of the details that must be decided soon. Mr. Hagerty called hunting a "tiny portion" of what must be addressed before a management plan can be submitted to the state.
   "It’s about everything we want to do there," he said. "Hunting will be just one of the things we discuss."
   According to Mr. Hagerty, Stockton Borough School has expressed interest in an educational component, which would allow students use of the land to learn about nature. The Environmental Commission also has talked about using the land for wildlife education, perhaps similar to the work performed at Bowman’s Hill in Washington Crossing, Pa. Others want to see hiking trails.
   All these uses will be considered, then officials must decide which will be permitted.
   Mayor Stephen Giocondo said he has sent letters to parties who may have an interest in the outcome, seeking volunteers for the committee. Letters went to the school’s Board of Education, Delaware Township, Stockton’s own Environmental Commission and Planning Board and Roger Locandro, a Delaware Township resident who is professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at Cook College of Rutgers University.
   Mr. Hagerty said the community also would be involved although no meeting dates have been set yet.
   He said hopes a draft of the management plan will be in place by the end of the year.