Expanded Hunting Proposed at Blackwater, Eastern Neck NWR

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a number of expanded hunting opportunities at two national wildlife refuges (NWRs) on Maryland’s Eastern Shore—Blackwater, in Dorchester County, and Eastern Neck, on the lower Chester River.

The Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, as the two refuges are known, is seeking public comment on its Draft Hunting and Fishing Plan.

Citing the importance of welcoming “people of all backgrounds and abilities to participate in recreational hunting,” Chesapeake Marshlands plans to align with state bag limits for some deer hunting. It proposes that hunters can take coyotes incidental to deer hunting, and use rifles with straight-walled cartridges.

Both NWRs would add a primitive hunt in February following the state season. Blackwater proposes adding an early teal season and dates for youth, veterans and military to hunt waterfowl. An additional 723 acres of land would be opened to hunting at…