(a) Purpose: 321 CMR
3.00 governs the
administration of wildlife management areas and sets forth permissible and
prohibited activities on such areas. The provisions of 321 CMR
3.00 incorporate
the philosophy of the Division that conservation shall encompass the wise use
of wildlife resources, including, where appropriate, protection, utilization,
and management. Therefore, except as provided in
321
CMR
3.03, hunting, fishing, and trapping
shall be permitted on wildlife management areas in accordance with the
provisions of 321 CMR
3.00 and other provisions of 321 CMR and of M.G.L. c.
131.
(b) Definitions:
Alcoholic Beverage shall be defined as in M.G.L. 138, §
1.
Camping means the utilization of any piece of equipment for
sleeping in or upon, including, but not limited to, a sleeping bag, hammock,
tent, tarp, motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, trailer, or watercraft, for
the purpose of occupying a piece of land or water for transient and temporary
outdoor living.
Controlled Substance and Counterfeit
Substance shall be defined as in M.G.L. c. 94C, § 1.
Director means the Director of the Division of Fisheries and
Wildlife.
Installation means fish hatcheries,
wildlife district offices, and the Westborough field headquarters.
Nature Preserve means those lands, waters, shores and interests
therein as defined and established pursuant to 321 CMR 11.00 and administered
under provisions of M.G.L. c. 131, §§ 10A through 10D.
Wildlife Management Area means any real property, except
installations, nature preserves and wildlife sanctuaries, owned by the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
and subject to the control and charge of said Division, or owned by or subject
to the control and charge of another agency of the Commonwealth or political
subdivision thereof or of the United States and operated or managed by the
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife under lease, easement, or cooperative
agreement as a wildlife management area. Additionally, the Director, with the
approval of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board, may, by lease, easement, or
cooperative agreement establish a wildlife management area with a partnership,
corporation, whether profit or non-profit, firm, business, or other commercial
or non-commercial entity, club, organization, or association and such area
shall be subject to provisions of
321
CMR 3.01(1). For the
purposes of
321
CMR 3.01(1), "wildlife
management area" shall be construed as inclusive of "public shooting
ground".
Wildlife Sanctuary means those lands, waters, shores, and
interests therein as defined in
321
CMR 7.01(2)(e) and
administered under provisions of M.G.L. c. 131, §§ 7 through 10, or
any other lands designated by the Director as subject to
321
CMR 7.01.
(c) No person shall illegally consume, use,
cultivate, or possess any controlled substance of any schedule or class or any
counterfeit substance within the bounds of any wildlife management
area.
(d) No person, except with the
written permission of the Director or his authorized agent, shall consume, use,
or possess any alcoholic beverage within the bounds of any wildlife management
area.
(e) No person shall dump or
discard, or cause to be dumped or discarded, any container, papers, garbage,
brush, stumps, leaves, solid or liquid wastes, tires, or other material within
the bounds of any wildlife management area.
(f) No person shall remove, damage, or
disturb vegetation, soil, or stones within any wildlife management area except
under permit from the Director or his authorized agent, provided that nothing
in 321 CMR
3.01(1)(f)
shall be construed to prohibit the
harvesting for personal consumption of edible wild fruits, berries, fungi, or
nuts.
(g) No person shall use
excessive speed in driving a vehicle on roads within any wildlife management
area.
(h) No person, except under
permit from the Director or his authorized agent, and except governmental
employees in the performance of their duties, shall drive, operate, or possess
within the bounds of any wildlife management area any motor vehicle, snow
vehicle, or recreational vehicle, except on roads or trails maintained by a
governmental agency and designated for the express purpose of permitting public
vehicular traffic.
(i) No person
shall deface, damage, remove, or molest any sign, fence, gate, building,
monument or equipment within or on any wildlife management area.
(j) No person shall build or
maintain, or cause to be built or maintained, a fire within any wildlife
management area without written permission from the Director or his designated
agent and the city or town fire chief or the District Fire Warden.
(k) No person shall camp within any wildlife
management area without written permission from the Director or his designated
agent.
(l) No person shall engage in
target practicing or target shooting within any wildlife management area
without written permission from the Director or his designated agent. "Target
practicing" shall be construed to include the "sighting in" or testing of
firearms and bows-and-arrows.
(m)
The night hunting of raccoon and opossum by means of a pistol or revolver not
larger than .38 caliber, or by means of a rifle chambered to take ammunition
not larger than .22 caliber long rifle shall be permitted on the following
wildlife management areas between 1/2 hour after sunset and 1/2 hour before
sunrise in accordance with the prescribed seasons, bag limits, and other
provisions of
321
CMR
3.02(5). During this
night hunting period, the wearing of a "hunter orange" cap or hat is not
mandatory.
1. Central Wildlife District:
Breakneck Brook Wildlife Management Area (WMA)
Fish Brook WMA
Lawrence Brook WMA
Leadmine WMA
McKinstry Brook WMA
Merrill Pond WMA
Moose Brook WMA
Muddy Brook WMA
Poutwater WMA
Prince River WMA
Quisset WMA
Raccoon Hill WMA
Savage Hill WMA
Wolf Swamp WMA
Connecticut Valley Wildlife District:
Catamount WMA
Coy Hill WMA
East Mountain WMA
Facing Rock WMA
Lake Warner WMA
Leadmine WMA
Ludlow WMA
Millers River WMA (Wendell)
Montague WMA
Mt. Toby WMA
Orange WMA
Palmer WMA
Satan's Kingdom WMA
Tully Mountain WMA
Wales WMA
Warwick WMA
Wendell WMA
Westfield WMA
Whately WMA
Williamsburg WMA
Northeast Wildlife District:
Boxborough Station WMA
Dunstable Brook WMA
Hunting Hills WMA
Mulpus Brook WMA
Nissitissit River WMA
Pantry Brook WMA
Salisbury Marsh WMA
William Forward WMA
Southeast Wildlife District:
Black Brook WMA
Burrage Pond WMA
Canoe River WMA
Church Homestead WMA
Copicut WMA Dartmoor Farms WMA
English Salt Marsh WMA
Freetown Swamp WMA
Haskell Swamp WMA
Hockomock Swamp WMA
(exclusive of Erwin S. Wilder Section)
Hyannis Ponds WMA
Mashpee Pine Barrens WMA
Meetinghouse Swamp WMA
Peterson Swamp WMA
Purchade Brook WMA
Quashnet River WMA
Red Brook WMA
Rochester WMA
Rocky Gutter WMA
Sly Pond WMA
Taunton River WMA
West Meadows WMA
Western Wildlife District:
Becket WMA Chalet WMA
Cummington WMA
Day Mountain WMA
Dolomite Ledges WMA
Fairfield Brook WMA
Farmington River WMA
Fisk Meadows WMA
Fox Den WMA
Green River WMA
Hancock WMA
Hiram H. Fox WMA
John J. Kelly Memorial Forest and WMA
Jug End State Reservation and WMA
Lily Pond WMA
Maple Hill WMA
Mount Tekoa WMA
Otis WMA Peru WMA
Powell Brook WMA
Savoy WMA
Taconic Ridge WMA
Three Mile Pond WMA
Walnut Hill WMA
2. Night hunting of raccoon and opossum under
special conditions shall also be permitted on all other wildlife management
areas, except on the Delaney (Harvard, Bolton, and Stow) and Flint Pond
(Tyngsborough) Wildlife Management Areas. During the period from the first
Friday after Columbus Day through the Saturday following Thanksgiving, night
hunting of raccoon and opossum shall be permitted on these areas only between
the hours of 9:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M. subject to the limitations pertaining to
firearms in
321
CMR
3.01(1)(m). During this
night hunting period, the wearing of a "hunter orange" color cap or hat is not
mandatory.
(n) No person
shall hunt during the pheasant or quail seasons on any wildlife management area
where pheasant or quail are stocked without wearing a "hunter orange" color cap
or hat, except for the hunting of raccoon or opossum in accordance with
321
CMR
3.01(1)(m) and except
for persons hunting waterfowl from within a blind or a boat. For the purposes
of 321 CMR
3.01(1)(n), "hunter orange"
color shall be that color defined in
321
CMR
3.01(2).
(o) No person, except with the written
permission of the Director or his authorized agent, shall, within any wildlife
management area, dig, excavate, remove or disturb, or cause to be dug,
excavated, removed or disturbed, any archaeological or paleontological
artifacts, remains, ruins, sites, fossils, or other objects of unusual
historical or prehistorical antiquity.
(p)Rules of Conduct on Wildlife Management
Areas for Dogs, Horses and Other Domesticated Animals
(i) No person may cause or permit any dog,
horse, or other domesticated animal listed in
321
CMR
9.02(3) to be
unattended or to roam or be at large on any wildlife management area. No person
may cause or permit any dog, horse, or other domesticated animal listed in
321
CMR
9.02(3), owned by him or
her or in his or her custody or under his or her control, to be on any wildlife
management area unless such animal is restrained within a cage, or is bridled,
or is restrained on a physical tether or leash by the animal's owner or
handler.
(ii) In addition to the
requirements in
321
CMR
3.01(1)(p)1., any dog
feces shall be collected immediately by the person who has custody or control
of the dog(s) and disposed of properly by that person outside of the boundaries
of the wildlife management area.
(iii) The provisions of
321
CMR
3.01(1)(p)1. and 2.
shall not apply to persons using dogs on any wildlife management area while in
the act of hunting in accordance with the Division's regulations, or training
dogs for hunting, including hunt tests and field trials by persons holding a
valid Massachusetts hunting or sporting license or by persons participating in
a Retriever or Bird Dog Trial event permitted by the Division pursuant to
321
CMR
2.01:
Retriever or Bird Dog
Trials In Massachusetts. For the purposes of
321
CMR
3.01(1)(p)3., the
training of dogs for the above purposes shall include, but not be limited to,
obedience training, pointing, retrieving, water handling, quartering, casting,
marking and trailing. Those persons using dogs pursuant to
321
CMR
3.01(1)(p)3. shall
immediately collect feces deposited by their dog within a designated parking
area, or within 100 feet of a designated parking area, and dispose of it
properly outside the boundaries of the wildlife management area.
(iv) Division personnel, an environmental
police officer or other law enforcement officer may direct that any dog, horse,
or other domesticated animal listed in
321
CMR
9.02(3):
Categorical Non-exemptions be removed from a wildlife
management area by the animal's owner or handler for failure to comply with
321
CMR
3.01(1)(p).
(v) If the Director deems it necessary to
fulfill the purpose of a wildlife management area as described in
321
CMR
3.01(1), he or she may,
by posting notice on the wildlife management area or on the Division's website,
prohibit from or restrict the access of any dog, horse, or other domesticated
animal listed in
321
CMR
9.02(3):
Categorical Non-exemptions to any portion of a wildlife
management area or for a particular time period.
(q) The Director is authorized to declare
special regulations as deemed necessary by him for the purpose of dealing with
situations or conditions peculiar to specific wildlife management areas. Those
special regulations appearing in
321
CMR
3.03 shall be construed to be part of
321
CMR
3.01(1)(q).
