Mobility Impaired Hunt Information and Application

Savannah River Site (SRS) in cooperation with the Wheelin' Sportsman National Wild Turkey Federation, United States Forest Service - Savannah River, and United States Department of Energy are pleased to offer a dog drive hunt to be held at the SRS in Aiken, South Carolina for mobility impaired hunters. The hunt will be conducted on November 15, 2008. Selected applicants will be responsible for travel, lodging, and meals; however, a lunch will be provided for all participants at the completion of the hunting activities. The SRS mobility impaired deer hunt is restricted to individuals who have very severe and permanent mobility impairments. Many sportsmen have serious health problems that cause varying degrees of mobility impairment, but always some of these cases are very difficult to measure or evaluate. However, in order to participate in the SRS event, an applicant must meet one of three, very specific criteria. Applicants must be permanently confined to a wheelchair, permanently require some type of mechanical aid to assist them in walking or have had a single or double leg amputation. Each participant can bring someone to assist him or her in a non-hunting capacity. Applicants must be fully able to control their weapon. All applications will be reviewed to determine eligibility. We regret that we may not be able to accommodate all interested applicants due to a limited number of stand locations, but encourage you to complete the application which will be entered in our lottery selection process when received.

Rules and Requirements

Prohibited Articles at SRS

The following are considered prohibited articles and are prohibited at SRS and its facilities unless in the possession of a person with a valid pass:

• weapons (cross-bows, bows and arrows, martial arts weapons such as butterfly knives, other fixed blade knives not intended as eating utensils or required in the performance of duty and folding knives with blades over 3 inches)

Note 1: If an item is not required in the performance of your job on Site, then the item must be left at home. This would include the following types of items: garden and yard tools such as garden hoes, shovels, pitchforks, digging tools, pruners, rakes, tools for watering, branch cutters, shredders, chippers, garden tools for weeding, garden trowels, garden tillers/cultivators, hedge cutters, weed-eaters, chain saws, pipes, machetes, yard brooms, electric blowers, electric trimmers, electric vacuums, and lawn mowers. In an effort to minimize delays during the vehicle inspection process, employees should check their vehicle prior to leaving home for unnecessary equipment, tool-boxes, containers, luggage and garden/yard tools (items listed above), which should be left at home. Certain items could be considered a prohibited and controlled item (weapon) such as machetes, axes, pipes and nail guns, unless they are needed and approved for an employee's work requirements:

Note 2: As part of the inspection process for prohibited and controlled articles at the site perimeter barricades, when a personally/privately-owned vehicle (personally-owned, subcontractor, vendor, etc.) is selected for a random entry/exit inspection at a perimeter barricade, the Protective Force, in addition to checking for required security badges and conducting a search of the vehicle, will also ask for driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. A driver is required to have all of these documents on his/her person or in his/her vehicle, in order to drive the vehicle. It does not matter in which state the vehicle is registered, Site policy requires that you have/provide proof of all three documents, valid registration/insurance/license, when selected for an inspection. Therefore, even if SRS employees reside in a state that doesn't require the driver to have proof of insurance in the car, they need to make a copy of their insurance card showing current insurance dates or a copy of their policy to show they do, in fact, have insurance. Anyone not having these documents is currently being denied Site access and if in violation of a law, is being cited for the violation. Prior to the vehicle being allowed access to the Site, all three required documents must be available.

Things to Know

SRS has a "Zero Tolerance" policy for unsafe hunters. Violators will be immediately and permanently removed from the SRS hunts.

The Department of Energy - Savannah River (DOE-SR) and its contractors are committed to protecting the public and the environment from excessive radiation exposure. Deer and hog hunting have been allowed at the SRS since 1965. SRS currently has a 30 mrem per year administrative dose limit to release game animals (deer, hogs, etc.). SRS will also update the hunter survey card by asking for the amount of meat consumed by the hunter from the SRS animals and if the hunter would like to be notified of his/her dose. SRS will continue to monitor wildlife and calculate the doses to each hunter before releasing the animals. There is a slight chance a hunter(s) who kills more than one animal or a larger animal may go above this limit. If this happens, the Site can not release the animal(s). The hunter may choose to keep the head and rack of a trophy animal. This notice is part of the SRS's continuing efforts to inform you of changes that may impact you, as well as the Site. If you have questions, please contact Jim Heffner, SRS, Environmental Services Section at (803) 952-6931.

Cesium-137 Statement

All plants and animals, including humans, have small amounts of radioactive material in their bodies. Since 1945, nuclear weapons have been tested above ground across the world, with most of this testing conducted in the 1950's and 1960's. These tests left small amounts of the radioactive material cesium-137 in the earth's air, water, plants and soil. While most of the cesium-137 at the SRS is a result of the nuclear weapons testing in the 1950's and 60's, work at SRS also added cesium-137 to the air, water, soil, and plants around the site. All deer and hogs, including those found at SRS, have small amounts of cesium-137 because it is found in the air, water, soil and on the plants those animals breathe, drink, and eat. Cesium-137 enters the human body by breathing, eating, and drinking; including when deer or hog meat is eaten. The Department of Energy has set limits for the total amount of radioactive material to which people can be exposed. The Department of Energy's limits are based on national and international standards established to protect human health. SRS also implemented additional restrictions to further limit exposure. Every deer and hog killed during the hunt is checked for cesium-137. Under no circumstances will any deer or hog be released if the radioactive material will cause the hunter's limit to be above the SRS limit.

Indemnification

In consideration of the permission granted by the Department of Energy (DOE) to enter upon the SRS for the purpose of hunting deer, I hereby agree to indemnify and hold SRS, DOE, USDA Forestry Service Savannah River Forest Station, SREL, WSI, and the U.S. Government harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, expenses, and liabilities arising out of or caused by my entry for deer hunting, unless and to the extent that such claims, damages, losses, expenses, and liabilities shall be determined to be solely attributed to the neglect of SRS, DOE, USDA Forestry Service Savannah River Forest Station, SREL, WSI, or their employees, agents, or subcontractors.

Mobility Impaired Hunt Application