SAVAGE RIVER LODGE - State forestry officials said this week that if the owners of the Savage River Lodge do not remove "No Parking" signs from Mount Aetna Road as instructed, that Forest Service personnel will take them down.

In a November letter, Mike Dreisbach and Jan Russell, the husband-wife owners of the lodge, were told to remove the illegal signs and to discontinue locking a gate on the edge of Savage River State Forest. The letter was written based on advice from the Maryland Attorney General's Office.

"They have kept the gate open, but Mike told us he is not inclined to remove the signs," said Mike Slattery, assistant natural resources secretary, Wednesday. The signs and the gate are two parts of a three-part conflict involving the lodge, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the hunting public - the other being a special 150-yard safety zone around a public hiking trail into which loaded firearms may not be taken.

"As soon as my regional forester gets back off vacation, we'll check into the situation and if the signs are still up, we'll remove them," said State Forester Steve Koehn.

Dreisbach said Wednesday that this hunting season has been the quietest and safest at the lodge in seven years.

"We made a complete review with DNR. There is no parking along the road because the road is too narrow. The only 'No Parking' signs are placed in pull-outs to accommodate two-way traffic on a road that was designed for one-lane traffic," he said. "We have always left the gate open at the farm house to accommodate deer hunters. We can close the gate daily at the close of business. The Savage River Lodge does own the right of way across the private farm and has been glad to allow public access to the river lot. We have given the public access to a piece of state property that was previously inaccessible."

Dreisbach successfully requested the no-weapons zone in an effort he has said in the past is to protect guests at his lodge from the hunting public.

He said his guests have been approached and intimidated by unruly and sometimes inebriated hunters. Several Garrett County hunters said they have been approached by Dreisbach in a confrontational manner and ordered off public land. The Maryland Natural Resources Police was unable to document such claims by either side.

Slattery said that by February, the agency will determine whether to allow the safety zone to remain. It has been protested strongly by local hunters and is opposed by Senator-elect George Edwards.

Slattery said he has been told by Dreisbach that a second gate, on private land and closer to Frostburg Road, can be locked to prevent public entry.

"We disagree and believe that we have a public right of way there, but we are waiting for an opinion from our legal staff," Slattery said.

The DNR has attempted to explain the situation with the safety zone by way of a Web site, www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/srhuntinfo.html.

Readers are told that the Izaak Walton League of America and the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce support the no-weapons zone.

Slattery said he is aware of opposition to the zone from the Maryland Sportsmen's Association, Maryland Bowhunters Society and Allegany-Garrett Sportsmen's Association, but does not have their opinions in writing.

"I'll check with our Web people to see if they want to put other opinions on the site. My thinking is that there was an understanding out there that widespread opposition to the zone existed and this was an effort to show that there are some groups that support it," Slattery said.

The following are opinions about the matter expressed either to the DNR or the Times-News.

* Paul Hansen, executive director of the Izaak Walton League of America, supports the no-weapons zone. In an Oct. 24 e-mail to the DNR, he said, "This is just the kind of situation that can give hunting and hunters a black eye. We appreciate your effort to promote safe and neighborly hunting..."

* Charlie Ross, president/CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, supports the no-weapons zone. In an Oct. 25 e-mail to the DNR, he said, "I would like to thank you for your decisions and concerns for public safety that have given our outside guests visiting Garrett County a safer place to recreate in general and in particular at the Savage River Lodge. There needs to be a safe buffer when one user group could possibly create an unsafe place for another."

* Bob Lynch, Maryland Bowhunters Society, opposes the zone. Lynch told the Times-News, "We told the DNR that we don't agree. Change it back. Don't do it again. It's a bad precedent. For anti-hunters, this would be a jewel. Just say you are worried about being hurt by hunters and ask the state to forbid hunting on public land."

* Wendy Donahoo, president of Maryland Sportsmen's Association, told the Times-News, "We want the safety zone around the trail removed and want the state to enforce the existing law that loaded weapons cannot be possessed within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling. Waterfowl hunters and other hunters around the state are very concerned with this issue ... that it might spread."

* Mike Griffith, president of the Allegany-Garrett Sportsmen's Association, told the Times-News, "We want hunters to be able to use that public land the way they always have. We're hoping George Edwards and others can get this thing straightened out."

* Wilson Freeland, president of the citizen commission that advises the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service, said he will make the issue an agenda item for the February meeting of that group.

Michael A. Sawyers can be reached at msawyers@times-news.com.