
DATE: Wednesday, March 19, 1997             TAG: 9703190509

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA 
        STAFF WRITER    

DATELINE: CURRITUCK                         LENGTH:  102 lines

CURRITUCK JOINS CROWD ON BEAR-HUNTING SEASON

Currituck County commissioners reluctantly are going along with a proposed bill to change the bear-hunting season in northeastern North Carolina.

``We've been kind of backed into a corner,'' said Commissioner Owen Etheridge before a 3-1 vote Monday night to support a bill that would extend the season from nine days to 12 over a longer period of time.

An opponent had asked the commissioner not to endorse ``a bad bill because everybody else is for it.''

Commissioner Ernie Bowden was the lone dissenter. Commissioner Eldon Miller was absent.

Bowden said he was concerned that a legal challenge - which seems likely - might include an injunction that would close the season to all bear hunting.

Seven counties now have officially signed on to the bear season measure, including Gates, Chowan, Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Washington and Tyrrell.

Currituck officials said they feared hunters would deluge the county and deplete the resource if it is the only locality to stick with the traditional season, which includes six consecutive days in November and three in December.

Under the new proposal, initiated by the Camden County Board of Commissioners, the black bear season would allow hunting only on Tuesdays from mid-October to January, providing about three extra days for northeastern hunters.

Had Currituck not gone along with the proposal, Commissioner Paul O'Neal said, the county would be ``overrun by hunters'' during its nine days of hunting.

Eventually, he continued, there will be ``no resources if everybody attacks Currituck County to gobear hunting.''

Hunters who favor the measure say it will improve sporting opportunities without increasing local pressure if all areas take part in the new schedule.

Farmers have complained recently of crop damage from roaming black bears, who are making a comeback under an expanding sanctuary.

Commissioner Gene Gregory said the board also must take into account the strong support of the proposal among local hunters.

``The overwhelming response that I have on this is these people want to see this change,'' Gregory said.

Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens, D-Pasquotank, has been asked to introduce the bill to the legislature, where it is expected to encounter opposition.

Jerry Wright, a Jarvisburg farmer and outgoing member of the state Wildlife Resources Commission, said the state Bear Hunters Association plans to challenge the fairness of a new season in only one region.

``They have said they intend to seek a legal avenue if the bill were to pass into legislation,'' Wright warned the commissioners before a vote.

The Wildlife Resources Commission is opposed to the season change for various reasons, chiefly the potentially devastating biological impact on the local bear population.

Currituck has had a bear-hunting season since 1993, when shooting was allowed for six days in areas south of the Coinjock bridge.

The next year the area expanded to the head of the North River. Last year, the season became countywide and included an additional three days statewide in December.

The expansions in Currituck and elsewhere help account for the increase in the number of bear kills in just about every northeastern county. An exception is Perquimans County, which does not permit bear hunting.

Of the 1,085 black bears killed last year by hunters in North Carolina, about one-third were killed in the 13-county northeastern region.

Also Monday, the Currituck County commissioners agreed to ask Rep. Owens to introduce a local bill allowing counties within the district to choose from a menu of revenue options.

Affected localities would include Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank and part of Perquimans.

A similar statewide bill also is being submitted to the General Assembly.

Both requests would allow localities, by a vote of the people, to levy local fees and taxes to generate revenue.

Options would include taxes on room occupancy, prepared meals and sales taxes, as well as impact fees for new developments.

The impact fee ``is something that many of our constituents have said they want to see - development paying for its own,'' O'Neal said.

The extra cash would be used to build facilities, such as schools and jails, required as populations grow. It could not be used for operating costs.

``This would alleviate pressure on property taxes,'' O'Neal said.

While the menu of local revenue options passed unanimously, another motion to seek General Assembly approval for a 2-cent increase in Currituck's current occupancy tax failed to garner enough support.

Currituck and neighboring Dare County now have a 4-percent tourist tax on lodgings, primarily beach motels and cottage rentals.

Commissioner Ernie Bowden, who voted against the increase with Etheridge, said the added tax might give Dare an advantage among cottage renters.

``All they'd have to do is cross the county line to find one for 4 percent,'' Bowden said. ILLUSTRATION: BEAR SEASON

Under the new proposal, initiated by the Camden County Board of

Commissioners, the black bear season would allow hunting only on

Tuesdays from mid-October to January, providing about three extra

days for northeastern hunters.

Had Currituck not gone along with the proposal, Commissioner Paul

O'Neal said, the county would be ``overrun by hunters'' during its

nine days of hunting.

Hunters who favor the measure say it will improve sporting

opportunities without increasing local pressure if all areas take