Our Mission, Strategy & Public Utility

The Philosophical Foundation of Our Public Mission

In an era dominated by rapid urban development, habitat fragmentation, and ecological vulnerability, rural land management can no longer be viewed through an obsolete lens of leisure or unfettered exploitation. At the ASSOCIATION INTERCOMMUNALE DE CHASSE AGREEE ETUPES TAILLECOURT FUSION, we understand that true countryside stewardship is an indispensable public service that underpins the health of our local ecosystems, the economic resilience of our agricultural heritage, and the social harmony of our communities.

Our presence in the landscape is defined by the French doctrine of gestion raisonnée—scientific, proportionate, and empathetic management. As an approved intercommunal association under the Law of July 1, 1901, our legal raison d'être is rooted in the public interest. We hold no commercial ambition, market no private commodities, and distribute no profits. Our members act as volunteer trustees of a shared biological commons, investing their personal time, labor, and expertise to ensure that the countryside connecting Etupes and Taillecourt remains vibrant, diverse, and safe for all inhabitants.

Strategic Pillar I: Achieving the Agro-Silvo-Cynégétique Equilibrium

The primary operational challenge facing rural territories in the Doubs department is the maintenance of the équilibre agro-sylvo-cynégétique—the delicate tripartite balance between agricultural viability, commercial silviculture (forestry), and wildlife populations. When any of these three pillars is neglected, ecological catastrophe ensues:

• Forest Regeneration Crises: When roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) densities exceed 12 to 15 individuals per 100 hectares in temperate hardwood forests, their selective browsing on terminal shoots prevents young oak, ash, and beech saplings from maturing. Over a generation, this leads to an aging canopy unable to renew itself, opening the understory to invasive monocultures like bracken fern and bramble.
• Agricultural Disruption: Overabundant wild boar (Sus scrofa) sounders forage aggressively in freshly sown maize fields, winter wheat, and legume crops. A single sounder of 20 animals can overturn several hectares of topsoil in a single evening, costing small-scale farming families thousands of euros in destroyed harvests and field leveling expenses.
• Epizootic Disease Risks: Hyper-dense wildlife populations act as incubators for zoonotic and animal pathologies, including African Swine Fever (PPA), bovine tuberculosis, and Lyme-disease-bearing tick vectors. Regulated population management is a frontline public health quarantine barrier.

To resolve this tension, our association implements an objective, data-calibrated Cull Plan (Plan de Chasse) established in consultation with the Departmental Federation of Hunters of Doubs (FDC 25), the National Forestry Office (ONF), and the Doubs Chamber of Agriculture. Rather than seeking maximum animal removal or artificial population inflation, our harvest numbers are adjusted annually to maintain populations precisely at the biological carrying capacity of the land.

Strategic Pillar II: Active Biodiversity Restoration & Ecological Corridors

While public perception often associates hunting organizations strictly with game harvesting, the majority of our operational hours are devoted to constructive habitat engineering. A thriving rural landscape requires a heterogeneous mosaic of micro-habitats that support not only huntable species, but also protected raptors, passerine songbirds, small mustelids, amphibians, and pollinator colonies.

Our 2026–2030 Ecological Action Masterplan encompasses four core conservation initiatives:

1. The Intercommunal Hedgerow Reconstitution Initiative (Trame Verte)

The consolidation of agricultural lands in the mid-20th century eliminated thousands of kilometers of traditional hedgerows (bocage), stripping the landscape of windbreaks, root-anchored soil retention, and animal corridors. In partnership with local farmers in Etupes and Taillecourt, our association has planted over 4.8 kilometers of multi-strata native hedgerows comprising hazel, blackthorn, dogwood, hawthorn, and wild apple. These living corridors provide nesting cover for grey partridges, shelter for wintering songbirds, and crucial pollen sources for wild bees.

2. Allan River Wetland Buffer Zone (Trame Bleue)

The riparian meadows flanking the Allan river represent an invaluable semi-aquatic corridor connecting Doubs with the Belfort territory. Our volunteers perform seasonal manual clearing of encroaching willow scrub to maintain open reedbed structures required by breeding mallards, common teals, and water rails. We have eliminated all artificial pesticide usage within association-managed riparian zones and established tranquil buffer perimeters free of any shooting disturbance.

3. Winter Biotope Fallow Plots (Jachères Faune Sauvage)

During harsh Jura winter months, food scarcity poses severe survival challenges for small game and seed-eating birds. Working with participating agrarian proprietors, our association finances and seeds over 18 hectares of winter biodiversity plots planted with sorghum, sunflower, buckwheat, and winter clover. These unharvested fields remain standing throughout the cold season, offering nutrient-rich forage and protective thermal cover against severe frost and predators.

4. Artificial Roosting & Nesting Infrastructure

To foster biological pest control, association volunteers have constructed and deployed 65 artificial nesting boxes tailored to barn owls (Tyto alba), common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), and pipistrelle bats across communal forest edges and farm barns. By encouraging natural raptor predation, we help farmers suppress field vole and rodent spikes naturally, reducing the need for chemical rodenticides.

Strategic Pillar III: Regional Inclusion & Democratic Access

A core tenet of the French Approved Communal and Intercommunal Hunting Association framework (Loi Verdeille) is the democratization of rural space. Prior to the establishment of the ACCA/AICA system, countryside hunting access was frequently monopolized by wealthy private landowners who leased vast hunting estates, excluding local working-class residents and rural inhabitants from their ancestral territories.

The Association Intercommunale de Chasse Agréée Etupes Taillecourt Fusion upholds absolute equality of civic access:

• Statutory Right of Admission: Any resident residing within the municipalities of Etupes or Taillecourt, regardless of whether they own a square meter of rural land, is legally entitled to association membership upon fulfilling standard licensing and insurance prerequisites.
• Non-Commercial, Regulated Fee Structure: Member contribution dues are pegged strictly to cover administrative operating expenses, communal insurance policies, and statutory federation assessments. Dues are approved democratically during the annual General Assembly and never inflated for profit.
• Temporary Permit Quotas for Non-Residents: To encourage inter-regional fraternity and tourism, our internal regulations reserve a fixed allocation of temporary day and weekend permits for visiting naturalists and certified hunters from neighboring Doubs municipalities.
• Protection of Agricultural Rights: Landowners who contribute their territorial parcels to our intercommunal pool retain total access to their fields for cultivation, forestry harvesting, and personal recreation without restriction.

Strategic Pillar IV: Public Safety Culture & Spatial Harmonization

The shared countryside belongs to everyone: morning dog-walkers, competitive trail runners, family mushroom foragers, mountain cyclists, and wildlife managers. We reject the false dichotomy that recreational access and responsible wildlife stewardship cannot peacefully coexist.

To achieve seamless spatial harmonization, our association has developed the Doubs Countryside Charter for Shared Rural Space, which mandates:

1. Predictable Operational Windows: Collective stewardship operations are restricted to designated days of the week, leaving alternate weekend days entirely free for unrestricted general public leisure.
2. Interactive Digital & Physical Notice: Active stewardship sectors are posted 24 hours in advance at municipal town halls, on trailheads, and on community bulletin boards, enabling recreationists to plan their hiking routes with total clarity.
3. The 30-Degree Safety Arc Mandate: Every participant in our collective drives is trained to visually calculate a 30-degree ground-bound firing arc, guaranteeing that no projectile can ever be discharged in the direction of a road, path, or dwelling.
4. Mandatory Fluorescent Orange Standard: All participants, dog handlers, and posted lookouts must wear high-visibility CE-certified orange fluorescent vests and caps visible from over 300 meters away.

Riparian Water Quality & Soil Conservation Protocols

Forests and agrarian parcels do not exist in isolation; their hydrological relationship with the Allan river basin determines regional groundwater purity and soil fertility. Our association works in tandem with water catchment managers and regional basin agencies to monitor runoff patterns, prevent bank erosion, and maintain healthy buffer zones.

By preserving dense root networks along stream banks and maintaining permanent vegetative cover across field contours, our stewardship helps absorb excess agricultural nitrates before they reach municipal drinking water reservoirs. Our volunteer water brigades carry out seasonal macroinvertebrate sampling—cataloging stonefly larvae, mayflies, and freshwater shrimp—which serves as a biological barometer for water cleanliness and dissolved oxygen levels.

The Intercommunal Hunter Certification Syllabus

To hold an active field permit within our intercommunal perimeter, participants must complete our accredited continuous education curriculum. This five-module training program exceeds national minimums:

• Module A – Ethical Ballistics & Ricochet Mechanics: Theoretical and live-range training on bullet trajectory angles, vegetative deflection risks, and strict 30-degree lateral firing boundaries.
• Module B – Non-Lead Ammunition Transition: Comprehensive adoption of certified copper and bismuth projectiles to eliminate secondary lead toxicity in raptors and scavenging wildlife.
• Module C – Wildlife Epidemiology & Sanitary Eviction: Field diagnosis of epizootic conditions, sanitary evisceration techniques, and mandatory specimen dispatch to accredited veterinary laboratories.
• Module D – Countryside Wilderness First Aid: Certified training in emergency tourniquet application, CPR, hypothermia management, and emergency GPS locator beacon deployment.
• Module E – Public Conflict De-escalation: Psychological and communicative training on engaging respectfully and calmly with members of the public, hikers, and landowners.

Strategic Pillar V: Public Education & Community Outreach

We believe that environmental awareness should be accessible to all. Our association organizes annual field days and educational seminars where local youth and families can experience the biological richness of our local Doubs countryside:

• The Young Naturalist Forest Academy: A quarterly weekend workshop where children learn to identify animal footprints, recognize bird songs, study tree rings, and build insect hotels from recycled pine cones and drilled oak logs.
• The Nocturnal Sounder & Twilight Safari: Guided evening observational excursions conducted with night-vision optics, offering community members the rare thrill of observing wild boar sounders and badger families in their natural habitat without disturbance.
• Botanical & Mycological Foraging Tours: Expert-led nature walks teaching safe identification of edible wild mushrooms, medicinal herbs, and edible forest berries, while emphasizing strict conservation of endangered flora.

Ten-Year Strategic Targets (2026–2036)

Looking toward the future, the Association Intercommunale de Chasse Agréée Etupes Taillecourt Fusion has committed to four quantitative targets for the coming decade:

Through these unwavering commitments, our association proves that modern rural management is a discipline of science, respect, and deep civic devotion. We invite every resident of Etupes, Taillecourt, and the wider Doubs territory to engage with us, share our love for the land, and help us preserve our natural heritage for generations yet unborn.