With a crowd of anxious hunters surrounding two park rangers, The Cedars of Lebanon State Park officially announced their plans for the newly acquired 2,690 acres of land that had previously been owned by the Tennessee State Forestry Department. Many, including myself, upon hearing of this acquisition, feared the loss of land that had been available for hunting in the past.
But, in a short, straight to the point statement, they announced that not only will hunting be allowed to continue in all forms, but now, the previously closed natural area on the north side of Cedar Forest Rd, will now be open as well. The only change that will really take place, is hunters will now have to get a once a year permit, that is free. This is so they can get a better understanding of who is using the land.
Some people still voiced their concerns about the future of the land past this year, and rightly so. The Rangers could only say that they could not speculate on what may happen any time in the future. When asked why the Sierra Club were saying that a new trail system will be put through the new part of the park, the Ranger responded by saying he, again, could not speculate on the future, but he did say that in order for the Sierra Club’s plans to come to fruition, there were a lot of other factors in play, including acquiring land from private landowners.
So, today can be considered a victory for hunters in the short term, but there is no guarantee for the future. One thing for sure, this year will be an “evaluation” year for the park, in regards to hunting. I think that now is the time we show the park that most of the hunters respect the land and treasure it. The park said they will gladly take volunteers the first Saturday of every month. Meet at the nature center at 9am. See you there.
Ralph Cody's Public Land Blog 
Good article. Thanks for writing it. I enjoy cedars!
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