The information quoted in the “Hunting sites shot down” article in the August 6 News-Times relating to the Kettles Trail System is 100 percent wrong!

Hunting the Kettles area is currently prohibited by County Code. The “people that are in charge of Kettles” such as, the Island County Public Works Dept. as well as the Island County Trails Council, have both officially recommended to the county commissioners to not allow hunting in the Kettles Park area!

It doesn’t sound like they “have not had an issue with hunters” to me. As a board member of the Island County Trails Council, the maintaining organization for the Kettles area, I am very familiar with the Kettles Trail system. I am also an owner of a local bike shop,

dell are both leaders in the Central Whidbey Sportsman Association, a gun club.

This is not a hunter vs. non-hunter issue. It is a safety issue. The county cannot convert a heavily used multi-use trail system into an exclusive hunting park during hunting season, and then effectively manage it. Who will ensure that no one camping at Fort Ebey State Park will wander into the county’s Exclusive Hunting Park?  Who will be liable if someone is killed while hiking along the west section of Hugh’s Delight, within the state park, by a shot fired from the east section of Hugh’s Delight, within the County’s Exclusive Hunting Park? 

It is also a right to access public land issue; all persons should be allowed access to the county’s recreational lands without license! The county has an obligation to provide safe areas of recreation accessible to all its residents. It should not provide exclusive sporting areas accessible only to those purchasing a state license.

Darcy Patterson

Oak Harbor