# Benzie Co Deer ranch on hold



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Benzie Co Deer ranch on hold 

THOMPSONVILLE  A plan to create a sprawling deer hunting ranch in Benzie County is stalled while state regulators investigate potential wetlands violations created when the property owner fenced the land.

http://www.record-eagle.com/2007/jun/28ranch.htm


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

State, Benzie must ensure they're on same side of fence

http://www.record-eagle.com/2007/jul/12edit.htm

07/12/07 TCRE Editorial

Before Benzie County grants zoning permits to a developer who wants to fence in two large parcels of land, at least one of them for a deer hunting ranch, all sides need to step back and take another look at the maze of requests, fences, wetlands and proposed land swaps.

Wayne Webber, a Benzie native who is now a downstate developer, wants to build a hunting ranch on 800 acres he owns along the Betsie River just north of Thompsonville. 

He applied to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to fence in 595 acres, but work was stopped when the state determined he had not gotten permits to run the fence through regulated wetlands. 

He had county permits to build a six-foot fence with low spots to allow wildlife to move. But during construction of that fence, Weber changed gears and decided to install a 10-foot fence, the kind required to keep in captive deer herds for hunting camps. 

The Department of Environmental Quality says some of that fence intrudes on regulated wetlands and Webber will need permits to build the fence, build a road along the fence and fill some wetlands in the process.

Webber has also asked the DNR for permission to fence in another 285 acres between Carmean Road and the Betsie River, but the DNR has said it wants to resolve the alleged wetlands violations first. He has also proposed to swap some land along the Betsie with the state. 

It's a complex set of issues made all the more complex by the decision to switch to a 10-foot fence in midstream, as it were.

The fact that he's building a deer hunting camp isn't part of the conversation right now, but it should be of concern  or at least informed interest  to area residents. 

Hunting camps in general have come under fire from hunting and preservation groups who say they're really trophy factories. Clients pay big bucks to be essentially guaranteed a shot at a big buck, but many hunters say that eliminates the thrill and skill of the hunt.

There are also concerns such farms can be breeding grounds for chronic wasting disease or bovine tuberculosis because the deer are often in close proximity to each other.

As far as the county, the DNR and the DEQ are concerned, however, the issues for now are fences, wetlands and getting it right. The DEQ has said it doesn't yet know what will be required from Webber to resolve the wetlands problem, in part because of the sheer size of the project.

Benzie zoning officials were to meet with Webber today to discuss permits for the enclosures. Before any such decisions are made, everyone needs to ensure they're on the same page  and not on the fence.


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