Syracuse.com - Barclay bill would change SAFE Act-related hunting ban on SUNY ESF properties

[HuntingNY-News]

The problem is that the Adirondack property is owned by Syracuse University and held in trust for SUNY ESF.

More than 5,300 acres in the North Country operated by SUNY ESF were off limits to small and big-game hunters with firearms this fall as a result of the N.Y. SAFE Act.

That could change under a bill authored earlier this month by Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, which calls for some minor word changes in the law.

Under the SAFE Act passed earlier early last year, the law increased the penalty for the possession of a firearm on school and college/university properties. Previously, the Penal Law charged violators with a misdemeanor. The SAFE Act elevated the penalty to a Class E felony.

The SUNY ESF announcement of a hunting ban last year concerned the 2,500-acre Pack Forest Demonstration Area in Warrensburg in Warren County, and the 2,800-acre Dubuar Memorial Forest adjacent to SUNY ESF's Ranger School at Wanakena near Cranberry Lake in St. Lawrence County. For decades, SUNY ESF allowed hunting with firearms on these lands by its students, faculty, research staff and the general public.

As a result of the SAFE Act, hunting that involved rifles, shotguns, or firearms was stopped on those properties. Hunting with bows and trapping, though, were continued.

The SAFE Act brought attention, to a "flawed interpretation" SUNY ESF had about the law that affected the properties. The school was under the impression that the school's lands were exempt from the penal law concerning school and college/university property due to previous legislation that was crafted with the school in mind.

After consulting with attorneys, SUNY ESF announced the hunting ban. The problem was that the Adirondack property is owned by Syracuse University and held in trust for SUNY ESF. The exemption only covered land owned by the college.

Barclay's bill adds the language "held in trust" when describing exemptions under the law concerning SUNY ESF land.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog