Friday, March 13, 2009

WISCONSIN NEWS: Another Municipality Struggles with Deer

City officials in Onalaska are trying to figure out a way to control a booming deer population.

The public had another chance to give their thoughts on the issue Wednesday night. City officials say most people who responded to a recent survey agree something needs to be done to control the number of deer in Onalaska.

Now they have to figure out a way to go about it.

"It appears most people would rather see an archery type hunt, but the parameters of that still has to be figured out," says Joe Barstow, the GIS technician and erosion control inspector for the city of Onalaska.

Some onalaska residents still have questions they want answered before anything is finalized.

"Our concern is that there isnt' a wholesale slaughter of deer, that they maintain property rights, that people don't hunt deer on individual properties and that there's a long term solution, not just like a quick fix type solution," says Michael Strasser, a resident who attended the meeting Wednesday.

If all goes as planned, city officials would like to start a managed hunt by the middle of this fall.

Source: WKBT

No comments: