Beitzel Bill Takes Tough Stance On Wildlife Poaching

Feb. 16, 2012

Del. Wendell R. Beitzel (R–Dist. 1A) last week filed House Bill 1052, a measure that will give the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) the increased ability to provide harsher penalties for those individuals who illegally poach wildlife.

"As an avid hunter, I am very troubled to hear stories of individuals who have failed to hunt game responsibly," Beitzel said. "Everyone has heard of stories of hunters who poach at night, hunt out of season, ignore game bag limits, or who illegally trespass on another person's land in search of game."

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Over the last several years, Beitzel has joined with Del.Barbara Frush (D–Anne Arundel / Prince George's counties) on the measure that would give the DNR greater authority in regard to enforcement against poaching.

This year, Beitzel has taken the lead in sponsoring the bill. The bill would allow for an administrative hearing process in which the DNR could hold a hearing to decide whether the hunter's license should be revoked for a period of time. Current law only provides for a judicial process.

"Currently, the same judges that deal with domestic issues and DUIs must also address these hunting violations," Beitzel said. "As a result, lenient penalties are often given to egregious offenders. This bill would give the DNR authority to revoke hunting privileges after a conviction on charges for game violations."

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Unseasonably warm Garrett hunting trip

Posted: Sunday, February 5, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 10:41 pm, Sat Feb 4, 2012.

By Andy Aughenbaugh Times Outdoors Columnist | 0 comments

“Where is all the snow?” I asked myself.

Driving west on Interstate 68 and turning off onto Md. 495 in Garrett County, the mountains of snow banks I am accustomed to seeing during this time of the year, where not present. A mere 3-6 inches of snow dusted the ground. Even the evening temperature was not the single digits typical of January in Garrett County.

The next morning we awoke to a skim of ice on the few inches of snow covering the ground. The trees would have glistened beautifully in the early sunrise. That is if the sun was out. A dense fog hung in the sky instead. There would be no finding direction by following the sun on this morning. We would have to pay attention to and follow the terrain if we wanted to keep from getting lost.

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DNR, police find lost hunters

On opening day of bear season, pair bagged a bruin but became disoriented in brush

Michael A. Sawyers Cumberland Times-News

SANG RUN — Just six-tenths of a mile from the family home, with 210 pounds of dead bear on the ground and darkness approaching, Robert and Scott Metheny realized they were badly disoriented.

“We were close enough to the house that I could call my mom on the radio and have her honk the horn, and we could hear it, trying to get our bearings,” said Scott, 41.

It was Monday — the opening day of Maryland’s bear season. Scott, now living in Willow Grove, Pa., had drawn one of the coveted 260 hunting permits and had named his father, Robert, 69, to hunt with him. The family home is in West Virginia, but is tucked against the Maryland state line. The duo was hunting on land owned by a relative near the Cranesville Swamp.

“I shot a bear at noon and it ran into some thick cover,” Scott said. Parting pine limbs so that he could see more than a foot or so, Scott came upon the dead bear, a male that would later be estimated to have a live weight of 248 pounds.

Moving the bear was up to Scott, because of Robert’s bad knee.

“It was like rowing a boat,” Scott said. “I’d sit down and pull, sit down and pull.” Scott said his goal was to get the bear to a spot where he could use a wheeled cart to retrieve the animal.

Eventually realizing they were unsure of the direction they were taking, the hunters placed their packs and rifles as a marker to try to stay on course, until there came a time when they couldn’t find the packs in the thick brush.

“The forest canopy is so thick that you can see about 5 percent of the sky,” Scott said.

At one point, Scott stepped into a swamp hole up to his thigh. Then it rained.

“I was so hot from dragging the bear that the rain didn’t bother me at first,” Scott said.

Then the Methenys found their packs, but now they couldn’t find the bear. As the day wore on they found the bear again but then lost the packs and rifles a second time. It was 4 p.m.

“We called Mom at 6 and told her to call the check station (at Mount Nebo) and tell them that we couldn’t get the bear there by 8,” Scott said. “DNR wanted to know if we could make it by 9, but Mom called them back and told them we couldn’t.”

At 9 p.m., Mrs. Metheny called Mount Nebo a third time, to ask for help for the lost hunters.

“We didn’t need rescued, but we needed found,” Scott said.

The fact that Scott and Robert still could not move in the correct direction after hearing the car horn is all you need to know about that piece of Garrett County landscape that bumps up against the Preston County, W.Va., border.

Paul Peditto, director of the Wildlife & Heritage Service, and Harry Spiker, bear biologist, were part of the search party.

“It’s easy to get lost in that country,” Spiker said. “The hemlock overstory is thick. The swamp grass is heavy and the alders are tough.”

Natural Resources Police officers went to the Metheny home to make sure officers knew the radio frequency to use.

“We are grateful to the Maryland DNR,” Scott said. “They put groups around us and kept tightening the circle until they triangulated us.”

Sgt. Art Windemuth said officers sounded sirens and blew whistles and asked the Methenys via radio if they could determine direction of the sound. Windemuth said the Maryland State Police Trooper 5 helicopter was unable to assist because of a low cloud ceiling.

“The coyotes started howling at the sirens and it was an uneasy feeling because there we were sitting on a bear carcass with no rifles and listening to predators,” Scott said.

“There was no easy way to get to us. DNR came around the end of Snaggy Mountain and got the four-wheeler to a spot where we could see their light and we went to them,” Scott said. It was Tuesday by then, 2:45 a.m.

The hunters had been without water for 12 hours, although Robert had two candy bars in his hunting coat. Scott said neither he nor his father required medical attention.

DNR helped the Methenys retrieve the bear Tuesday morning.

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com

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Deer hunter who killed bear won’t be charged

Sow twice climbed tree he was sitting in
Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Tue Sep 27, 2011, 09:46 PM EDT

MCHENRY — A deer hunter who used his crossbow to kill a bear in Garrett County will not be charged, according to Sgt. Art Windemuth of the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

The incident took place Sept. 20 on private land one-quarter of a mile west of U.S. Route 219 in the area of Will O’ The Wisp, according to Windemuth.

“The hunter told officers he was in a tree hunting over a bait pile when the sow (165 pounds) and two cubs came to the bait. He said the sow climbed the tree he was in, but went back to the bait after he hollered at it,” Windemuth said.

The bear once more climbed the tree, coming within a few feet of the hunter who feared for his life and shot the bruin, according to Windemuth.

“The hunter immediately called the wildlife office in Cumberland. Officers were dispatched and found the bear, which was dead, and the cubs had left the area,” Windemuth said. “All the evidence, including the angle of the arrow in the bear, substantiated the hunter’s account.”

Windemuth said the matter was presented to the Garrett County state’s attorney, who chose not to charge the hunter.

Harry Spiker of the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service, said the dead bear was untagged and did not wear a radio collar. “So we had no history on this bear,” Spiker said.

“The hunter described the cubs as being small. We believe if cubs make it to July 1 they can survive on their own. They might still be nursing some, but they are also eating solid foods and know enough at that point to forage on their own. They would probably weigh about 40 pounds each now.”

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com

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Outdoors: BLACK BEAR LOTTERY

By CHRIS D. DOLLAR, For The Capital
Capital Gazette Communications Published 06/26/11

BLACK BEAR LOTTERY: Maryland Black Bear Lottery Opens July 1. Entering its eighth year, Maryland's black bear hunting season is scheduled for Oct. 24-29. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will accept applications for this year's lottery for hunting permits beginning July 1. DNR will issue 260 bear hunting permits with a quota of 55-80 bears and will close the hunt when the quota is reached.

In a DNR press release, big game biologist Harry Spiker said the black bear population growth rate has slowed in Garrett County since the hunting season was established in 2004, but continues to increase in Allegany County and in areas east.

This year's lottery will follow the same model-the Preference Point System-established in 2007 but the application period has been extended by a month. Under the system, hunters who apply receive one entry in the random drawing as well as one additional entry for each consecutive year they have applied. For example, those hunters who applied unsuccessfully in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 will receive five entries in the drawing when they apply this year.

Online applications for the Maryland Black Bear Lottery will be accepted from 9 a.m. on July 1 until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2. Phone applications will be accepted at 1-888-579-6768 between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 22-26 only. Send a $15 non-refundable application fee (credit card, check, or money order) to MDDNR Black Bear, P.O. Box 360, Frostburg, MD 21532. All payments must be received by 12:00 p.m. on Monday. Checks and money orders should be made payable to MDDNR Black Bear.

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Last northern goshawk in Maryland killed

By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun

5:14 p.m. EDT, June 21, 2011
Someone in Garrett County has shot and killed Maryland's most rare bird, the only known nesting northern goshawk.

Natural Resources Police confirmed the death of the raptor, which is on the state's endangered species list. Without the female to protect and provide for them, the three chicks in the nest died as well.

Forestry and Timber The Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Foundation is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter. NRP is asking anyone with information about the crime to call the Poacher Hot Line: 1-800-635-6124.

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Maryland Black Bear Lottery Opens July 1

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will begin accepting applications for this year’s lottery for black bear hunting permits starting July 1. Successful applicants will receive a permit valid for the black bear hunting season scheduled to take place October 24-29.

“This year’s lottery will follow the same successful model we’ve used for the recent bear hunting seasons, except we are expanding the application period by one month,” said Harry Spiker, DNR’s Game Mammal Section Leader. “We will continue to use the popular Preference Point System that gives applicants who were unsuccessful in the past an advantage this year.”


DNR implemented the Preference Point System in 2007. Hunters who apply will receive one entry in the random drawing as well as one additional entry for each past consecutive year they have applied. For instance, those hunters who applied unsuccessfully in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 will receive five entries in the drawing when they apply this year.

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If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

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Delegate Attends Pro-Sportsman's Legislative Event

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Dec. 30, 2010

Del. Wendell Beitzel and Sen. John Astle, co-chairmen of the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, gathered with state legislative leaders from across the nation recently at the annual National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses (NASC) Sportsman-Legislator Summit to address hunting, angling, trapping, and conservation issues in state capitals across the country.

The three-day summit of conservation, industry, and state legislative leaders was held Dec. 6–9 at the Grand Hotel Marriot in Point Clear, Ala. The theme for this year's meeting, "Yesterday's Heritage and Tomorrow's Promise," describes the mission of the NASC in building upon past successes to address the challenges of the future.

"State sportsmen's caucuses have made significant strides in the past few years, but this meeting and the issues discussed and debated provide a valuable foundation for our future efforts to promote and protect the interests of sportsmen and women in the halls of state government," said Rep. Mike Pitts of South Carolina, NASC executive council president.

"It is obvious from the level of support and participation of the hunting and fishing community, that everyone understands the significance of the NASC," said Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation states director Bethany O'Donovan. "Many of the most important decisions affecting our outdoor traditions are made by state legislators; the policies they craft, debate, and enact will impact every single individual who spends time hunting, fishing, or trapping."

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First bear of Maryland's 7th annual hunt

From the Outdoors Girl blog:

The first bear checked at Maryland's seventh annual hunt was shot by Leslie Nightingale, 39, a juvenile substance abuse counselor from Allegany County. The 234-pound bear was shot in Garrett County near the western shore of Deep Creek Lake.

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Bear lottery perfect - Garrett County bear hunting

Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sun Sep 26, 2010, 08:00 AM EDT

— Well it sure didn’t take long for me to see a bear.

About 9 a.m. on the opening day of the Maryland deer bowhunting season I looked to my left and here toddling down a game trail came a bear. I wasn’t baiting.

The big ears on the bear quickly identified it as a youngun. At about 30 yards, the bear sniffed me and stood on his hind legs. He or she remained in that position for about 20 seconds or so huffing and a puffing and a sniffing the air. Probably a Smokey impersonator.

Apprently it didn’t like the aroma. The bruin took a 90-degree up the hill, showing me a side view and confirming that is was a youngster. I’m guessing 90 or 100 pounds.

That evening I got an emailed photo from a hunting friend and he too had seen a bear while sitting in a treestand about a mile or so from my location.

I think a couple things. I think there are a lot of bears out there. However, I also think that we may end up seeing and killing fewer of them during the October hunt because of the massive amounts of acorns in the woods.

That much food in the hinterlands will not necessitate much movement by bears in order to fill their stomachs. Less movement means fewer sightings. It may also mean that corn crops don’t get hit as hard.

If you are a hunter who has applied every year, but never received a bear hunting permit, you won’t be happy with my next statement.

The bonus-point system used in the bear hunting lottery is working perfectly.

This year, there were hunters with as many as four chances to draw out and hunters with only one chance to get permit.

Numbers supplied by Harry Spiker of the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service show that 48 percent (125) of the 260 permits went to applicants with four chances; 20 percent (53) to those with three chances; 17 percent (44) to those with two chances; and 15 percent (38) to those with only one chance.

The agency offers hunters the opportunity to simply buy a bonus point, without applying for a hunting permit during the current year. I’m not sure how many did that this year, but in 2009 there were 149 who went that route.

Anyway, when I say the bonus-point system is working perfectly, I mean that the people with the most chances got the most permits and those with the fewest chances got the fewest permits. It was a perfect descending order.

That doesn’t give you much solace if you have never been on the receiving end of a permit. I know a half-dozen people or so who had four chances to draw but didn’t.

Spiker has said that sometime after a new bear population study takes place in 2011 that the agency may consider new options for bear hunting.

And now for the question that everybody has been asking me. How many of the permits went to residents of Allegany and Garrett counties?

And now for the answer.

Garrett County residents drew 26 percent of the permits (68); Allegany County, 14 percent (36); other Maryland residents, 60 percent (156); nonresidents, 7 percent (19).

Spiker said 10 percent of the hunting licenses sold are to nonresidents, so they are awarded no more than 10 percent of the bear permits.

Although 40 percent of the permits went to Garrett and Allegany county hunters, Spiker said that percentage was 60 during the first few years of the hunt.

Contact Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com

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Beitzel’s hunting license suspension measure stalls in Maryland Senate

Kevin Spradlin
Cumberland Times-News

— CUMBERLAND — It’s not often that you see Delegate Wendell Beitzel team up with Delegate Barbara Frush to support the same side of any legislation.

The fact that it happened on a hunting-related bill is nearly astounding. And the fact that House Bill 636, which would have authorized the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to suspend a hunting license for up to five years for a person convicted of a state or federal hunting violation, passed the House unanimously by a vote of 136-0, but failed to get to the floor in the Senate was, by all accounts, disappointing.

Beitzel is a Republican and an avid hunter representing all of Garrett County and western Allegany County. Frush is a Democrat and represents Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties. Annually, Frush can be counted upon to introduce legislation that would end Western Maryland’s bear hunt. To counter that, Beitzel offers his “share the bear” bill that would authorize wildlife officials to relocate nuisance bears into jurisdictions other than Western Maryland.

DNR supported the bill. Beitzel said that could have been part of the bill’s downfall in the Senate’s Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, which gave it an unfavorable report on Tuesday.

“I think one senator over there has a problem with giving DNR more authority,” Beitzel said, declining to name the elected official.

Beitzel said the bill even had the reluctant support of the Allegany-Garrett Sportsmen’s Association. The group wasn’t “overly enthused with it” but, Beitzel said, understood the desire to police hunters who couldn’t follow the law. Beitzel also is co-chair of the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Causus, and as a body, “we supported it. Being co-chair, I obviously had to support the bill. It will probably be out again next year.”

In Maryland, officials can suspend a hunter’s license for one year. In other states, Beitzel said, the suspension can last five years.

Frush, Beitzel said, “has always been so anti-hunting and pushing to not allow the bear hunt ... We kind of came to a meeting of the minds ... This year, she didn’t put the bill in to take away the bear hunt. I didn’t have to put the bill in to share the bear.”

Other legislative updates from the General Assembly’s final full week in session, which adjourns midnight Monday, included:

• Turkey can now be hunted on the last Sunday in April and the first Sunday in May in Allegany County, except in years in which those Sundays fall on Easter. Garrett County was added to HB 245, which passed both chambers.

• Lawmakers approved HB 246, which authorizes a person in Allegany and Garrett counties to hunt for deer on private property with a bow and arrow during open season on the last three Sundays in October and the second Sunday in November.

• Efforts to plan and design an Oakland Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Oakland will be supported by bond bills totaling $200,000 equally split between the Senate and the House.

• The Allegany County Museum project in downtown Cumberland will receive a combined $150,000, significantly less than the requested $600,000.

• An effort to reduce the distance from a natural gas drilling wellhead from a neighbor’s property to 500 feet from 1,000 feet failed despite its origination from the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Ed Larrimore and the support of Sen. George Edwards. Beitzel said the initiative “wasn’t supported by the administration.” However, “we’ll come back to that one next year,” Beitzel said.

• HB 733, which passed both chambers unanimously, auth-orizes the creation of an Emergency Services Board to assist in the distribution of funds to local volunteer fire and rescue departments.

• Beitzel's “Made in America” bill, HB 1465, received unanimous support in the House but Senate action by Sunday morning wasn’t available. The bill, requested by Fechheimer Manufacturing in Grantsville, would require state and county government entities, including school systems, to purchase uniforms, furniture and safety equipment from items made in America.

The fiscal note attached to what Beitzel called an important “jobs bill” would have a “potential significant increase in local government expenditures ... beginning in Fiscal Year 2012. Expenditure increases may be at least 15 percent of current costs but will vary based on the extent to which local governments do not already purchase or rent American-made items and on the availability of comparable American-made products. This bill imposes a mandate on a unit of local government.”

At least 20 states, including Maryland, already have some form of Buy American purchasing preference.


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Beitzel Introduces "Share The Bear" Bill Once Again

Beitzel Introduces "Share The Bear" Bill Once Again

Feb. 14, 2008

Del. Wendell R. Beitzel (R–Garrett and Allegany counties) introduced HB 762, "Natural Resources – Black Bears – Establishment of Population in Each County," this week in the Maryland General Assembly. The bill, which seeks to establish a bear population in each county in the state, is in response to Del. Barbara Frush's (D–Anne Arundel and Prince George's) filing of HB 657.

Frush's bill seeks to classify the black bear as a non-game mammal and to put a moratorium on bear hunting in Maryland.

A similar bill to Beitzel's HB 762 was originally introduced by then-Del. George C. Edwards in 2005. The Edwards bill was also in response to a bill submitted by Frush to ban bear hunting in Maryland. Edwards is now a senator in the General Assembly.

Beitzel's bill will be heard in front of the House Environmental Matters Committee and has been scheduled for a hearing at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

"Del. Frush and several of her colleagues do not want a bear hunt in Maryland," Beitzel said. "If they are successful in their efforts, then something must be done to control the bear population in western Maryland. My plan does just that.

"Under my legislation, the Department of Natural Resources can distribute the bears throughout the rest of the state so that everyone can experience the 'joys' of living with bears," Beitzel said.

The provisions of the his bill would require the DNR to capture bears that live in over-populated areas of western Maryland, and distribute them throughout the state. The DNR has determined that all counties in Maryland have locations that are suitable for bear habitat, according to Beitzel.

"Many people who aren't from western Maryland think that bears are cute and friendly, but this isn't always the case," said Sen. Edwards. "There are nuisance bears that not only destroy property, but also potentially pose a serious threat to people and pets. We need to make sure that people down here know that it is essential to manage the bear population, whether it's by a hunt or the plan we presented."

According to a report by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 51 bears were taken during the 2007 bear hunt in Maryland. In addition to those bears, more than 40 bears were reported to have been hit by vehicles on the highway statewide.

Until the 2004-2005 hunting season, a ban on hunting black bears had been in effect since 1953. The bear hunt has received national attention and has since been a source of controversy.

During the most recent bear hunt, a black bear weight record was established for Maryland. Coty Jones, a 20-year-old woman from the state's Eastern Shore, harvested a black bear that weighed more than 600 pounds.

"This bill is important to not only the people of Garrett and Allegany counties, but also should be a concern for those who genuinely have an interest in the preservation of the bear population in Maryland," Beitzel said about HB 762.

He encourages anyone wanting more information on this subject to contact him in Annapolis at 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3435.