VA. REOPENS RAGGED ISLAND REFUGE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 11, 1993                   TAG: 9304110064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT                                LENGTH: Medium
VA. REOPENS RAGGED ISLAND REFUGE
The state has reopened the Ragged Island Wildlife Management Area after taking steps to make the refuge less attractive as a homosexual meeting place.
Officials with the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries closed the 1,537-acre refuge in August because they claimed it was a spot for homosexuals to solicit and engage in sex. It was also closed for eight months starting in October 1990 for the same reason.
Game officials have cleared shrubbery that made the refuge's parking lot invisible from the road, said Glen Askins, the department's regional wildlife manager.
The department also is installing new lights, hanging new signs and cleaning up litter in an effort to make the refuge more attractive and more noticeable to the public, he said.
In 1990 officials said Ragged Island's main parking lot had become a meeting place for gay men, and their sexual activity in the refuge had driven away other visitors. Ragged Island had been a popular spot for fishing, nature walks, bird watching and hunting.
The game department and the Isle of Wight Sheriff's Department plan to increase patrols at the refuge, Askins said. The game department also will suggest that Isle of Wight County adopt a local anti-solicitation ordinance, making it easier for police to arrest those trying to use the refuge as a sexual playground, he said.
Undercover sheriff's officers arrested more than 20 people at the refuge in 1990. But Askins said police could only arrest people who engaged in or started to engage in sexual acts; a solicitation ordinance would make an arrest possible after just a verbal proposition, he said.
Commonwealth's Attorney W. Parker Councill said a local ordinance probably would make it easier to curb sexual activity in public places like Ragged Island.
During the 1992 winter hunting season, the department temporarily opened Ragged Island's smaller entrance so that deer and waterfowl hunters could use the refuge. The main entrance remained closed until this month.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB