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<div>Friends and neighbors,</div>
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<div>After reviewing the unfortunate incident in which a raptor lost its life in a sports net at the Field of Dreams, along with a review of town policy, practices in the Parks and Recreation Office of MNCPPC and state/federal regulation with the Fiscal, Legislation, and Regulations Office within Maryland Department of Natural Resources I have some information to share. </div>
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<div>First, I want to make plain that it is the goal of the Town to see that the Field of Dreams, and all public property within the town is used responsibly and this includes, but is not limited to, making sure that all are managed foremost to minimize the chance of: 1) loss of human life, 2) damage to any persons' health; or 3) damage to any other persons' or entities property. This, being said, we clearly do not want to cause undue risk to wildlife while protecting persons in their activities. We clearly want to minimize the chances of future accidental deaths or injuries to animals while still keeping our top priority off maintaining human safety on and around the field. </div>
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<div>While preparing to put up nets at the field we did examine what we thought were standard nets and uses of such nets. After the incident of this month, we have dug much deeper into these questions and found out important and reassuring information.</div>
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<div>When MNCPPC Park and Recreation uses netting, whether "sport" netting such as we have installed at the Field of Dreams or any other variety, they leave the net up for the entire season and will only take them down during the off season. Our plan from the beginning to bring the nets up only for play periods then is more cautious of unintended consequences than is the case for the organization of the largest operator of recreational fields in our region.</div>
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<div>It was further brought to our attention that we might be in violation of some form of federal or state statute that prevents us from utilizing nets so we contacted Maryland Department of Natural Resources in order to determine what regulations we might inadvertently be in violation of. After discussing our existing situation, the death of a raptor (which we assume was a member of a protected species), and our proposed means of proceeding we were informed by Steve Bittner, Associate Director, Fiscal, Legislation, and Regulations that 1) putting up netting as MNCPPC does and leaving it up for a whole season is standard practice and not a violation of any state or federal rule; 2) the death of the raptor in our nets was an "incidental catch" and not the responsibility of the town to mitigate; 3) that retracting nets while not in actual use is a best practice and commended the town for doing so.</div>
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<div>Therefore, as we move forward on this we are confident that the town is implementing a practice that goes far beyond what is common and/or required by law; but of course we always try to get beyond OK and aim for excellence.</div>
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<div>What we plan to do at this point to both insure responsible use, and minimize incidental impact on wild life is:</div>
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<div>1) a much tightened up permitting process, that will include among other things, formal training of all applicants of how to operate the nets prior to issuance of a permit;</div>
<div>2) increased enforcement of the permitting requirement for all organized play on the field;</div>
<div>3) new signage on both the parking entrance to the field and the baseball backstop that explains the expanded rules of usage in both Spanish as well as English;</div>
<div>4) have a backup response telephone number(s) for permitted users or residents to call for assistance should the nets not function properly or the nets be left up (one of those numbers will be, and you are free to use starting immediately police dispatch at 301-927-4343 as this is a 24-7 staffed telephone); </div>
<div>5) review the mechanical operation of the nets to ensure that it is as easy as possible to operate by users (we believe at this time that there was at least one problem with the initial installation that makes it more difficult to handle the nets than should be the case); and </div>
<div>6) review of other types of nets that might be able to use that is less likely to cause damage to wildlife. </div>
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<div>I apologize in advance if I have not been able to catch or answer every aspect of this issue. I believe that we have a model management plan for the field and soon will have it in place that will be a best practices model for other municipalities and regional entities to follow. Our plan allows and promotes healthy community sports and protects the interests of wildlife and environmental stewardship. </div>
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<div>Best wishes,</div>
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<div>Vern</div>
<div><br>-- <br>Vernon Archer, Mayor<br>Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland<br></div></div><br>