NEW YORK NEWS: Deer Management Options Mulled for Green Lakes State Park

Deer here, deer there -- deer everywhere.

That's one thing that most people seem to agree on when it comes to the deer at Green Lakes State Park in the town of Manlius.

But are there too many deer? And should hunting be allowed to reduce their numbers?

It's an emotional issue and some people tie both topics together. Others feel they should be handled separately. The question about what to do with the deer is being discussed now because the state is currently formulating a new, 25-year master plan for the park and is seeking input.

A recent public hearing brought out strong feelings about the park's deer, and in particular the hunting issue. Nothing's been decided yet.

Among the key, deer-related discussion points are the high number of deer/motor vehicle accidents around the park, the fact that the park has been identified as ground zero in Central New York for the deer-carried Lyme disease tick and the fact that many surrounding homeowners are tired of having their shrubs and flowers munched on by deer.

And the most emotional: Are park users who hike, bike, bird, shoe and cross-country ski in the 1,900-acre park willing to share its use with hunters?

But first, just how many deer are there at Green Lakes State Park?

That's right. And that figures into the state parks department official position.

A total of 24 were spotted along roads in the park and just off Route 290 during a recent, early morning, one-hour visit by this reporter. Park officials said it's not uncommon to see herds of 10 to 20 deer in the late fall, winter and early spring.

"How many deer? That's an honest question that we can't answer," said Jim Semar, the park's manager for 19 months. "What we need to do is have a deer count."

His boss, Robert Hibrandt, assistant regional director for the state park's Central Region, agreed. "Everything is moot until that question, 'Are there too many deer?' is answered. And only then will we have the discussion whether we have hunting or not."

A wildlife survey was proposed several years ago by the town of Manlius, in conjunction with SUNY ESF officials. It never happened.

David Riehlman, a senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said "something" has to be done to manage the park's deer.

"There's certainly evidence of a high number of animals in there. Most anyone looking at the park grounds would say deer are having some impact on the vegetation in the park," he said.

But will a study answer everyone's questions? Probably not, said Brian Underwood, a wildlife biologist with the United States Geology Survey who has looked at this issue at national parks across the country. He said the answer comes down to a mix of scientific and social concerns.

"There's no magic number. The truth is there's plenty of food there for the deer. If there wasn't there wouldn't be that many deer there," he said. "I've seen 300 deer per square mile supported by mowed lawns. The question is do you want to have that many deer?

A host of accidents

The town of Manlius, which includes the villages of Manlius, Fayetteville and Minoa, is a fast-growing residential area. As undeveloped land disappears, the deer in the area continue to gravitate to the park and other open land, officials said.

Captain Jason Cassalia of the Town of Manlius Police Department acknowledged his municipality has "a lot" of deer/motor vehicle accidents.

"Last year of the 842 total accidents in our town -- which includes the town and the village of Manlius, Fayetteville and Minoa -- 114 of them were car/deer accidents," he said.

On the highly traveled roads surrounding the park (Routes 5, 257 and 290), he added, there were 33.

Along one stretch of Route 290, the state has put up Swareflex reflectors, which are supposed to reflect car lights off the road and into the woods into the deer's eyes.

"Basically, they don't work very well," said Underwood, who recently oversaw a SUNY ESF graduate student's study on deer car accidents in Onondaga County.


Nuisance permits, sterilization

Private landowners with excessive deer problems can get "nuisance permits" issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to bring in sharp shooters, or that allows them to take the multiple deer out themselves over a short period of time. Such a permit has never been issued for a Central New York park, state park officials said. Other areas have tried the sterilization approach to reduce deer numbers. "To date, none have proven to be practical or effective," a DEC official said.

Lyme disease

It's not news that county health department officials, doctors and veterinarians have essentially tagged Green Lakes State Park as "Ground Zero" for Lyme Disease in Central New York. The tick-borne disease moves from area to area carried by deer.

This year appears to be the worst deer tick and Lyme disease seasons yet in Central New York. A local dermatologist was quoted recently by The Post-Standard as saying he had 10 patients with Lyme disease, with seven believed to come from Green Lakes State Park.

Last year, a state Health Department study found that 63 percent of the deer ticks collected from Green Lakes in the summer of 2008 were infected with the bacteria, compared to an infection rate of 30 percent earlier in the year.

Typical symptoms for humans include fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash. If left untreated, the infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system. Most cases can be treated with antibiotics.

In dogs, symptoms include lameness, fever, swollen joints, anorexia and kidney failure and can be fatal. Dogs can be vaccinated. There's nothing on the market, though, for humans.

Will it do any good now to take out a sizeable chunk of the park's deer herd?

Experts say it's too late. The ticks have established themselves by using all available, warm-blooded hosts, including small rodents, rabbits, skunks and raccoons. The best tool in controlling the disease at this point, officials said, is education -- specifically, taking the proper precautions when recreating in the area. Warnings are posted throughout the park.

Managing the munching

Anybody living next to Green Lakes State Park is aware of the large numbers of deer that wander into nearby residential areas throughout the year to munch on shrubs, small trees and flowers.

Town Supervisor Mark Tetley said his house borders the park.

"My neighborhood is frustrated," he said. "It's difficult to have any shrubs or plantings out. It's a difficult problem. You have so many people on different sides of it."

However, Tetley, who's been in office for two years, said he "hasn't seen a groundswell yet," of residents demanding something be done about the deer."

Sister Margaret Patrick, administrator at the Spirituality and Nature Center at Alverna Heights -- a 160-acre Catholic spiritual retreat center that's embedded on one side of the park -- said they've had to put caging and tubing around many of the retreat's "memorial trees."

"And we spray garlic spray on the trees, that seems to protect them," she said. "They (the deer) are not super destructive for us. We don't have massive gardens like people in some of the houses (surrounding the park)."

So, what about hunting?

Outdoorsman Charlie Pace successfully lobbied for bow hunting at Selkirk Shores State Park in Oswego County. He and others would like to see Green Lakes State Park opened up as well.

"The argument is not about deer management," he said. "It's about providing another recreational opportunity at the park."

He said parks officials should not be so concerned about managing the deer numbers, adding that their job is to provide recreational opportunities and to protect the fauna and flora of the park. Managing deer numbers, he said, is the DEC's job.

He pointed out Bowman Lake State Park in Chenango County, and the county-run, Highland Forest in Tully both allow hunting. Specific accommodations have been made to appease other park users, such as restricting it to a specific area, special hunting days, no permanent tree stands and no ATVs.

"Say you only opened it up for three weeks (for hunting). Had a permit system. Only 10 to 30 guys. Or maybe just handicapped guys. Or even one guy. Either way, it would be an increase in the recreational use of that park," he said.

He said park officials and other critics point to safety concerns. He bristled at comments made at the recent public hearing that high school cross country runners training in the park might be injured themselves by a misdirected or stray arrow.

"If safety is such a concern ... you have cross country kids in shorts and T-shirts running through there all the time. Are they taking all the precautions (for Lyme Disease)?," he said. "And show me where there's been such accidents in state parks (involving hunting)."

Semar, who manages the park, has a unique perspective. Before coming to Green Lakes, he managed Bowman and Selkirk state parks.

He acknowledged none of them had any problems with hunters. He also noted that each park is different because of its layout, its use and access points to various areas.

"The areas open to hunting in Selkirk and Bowman, they weren't used that much in the first place," he said. Those two parks, including Highland Forest, are in more rural areas, often bordered by undeveloped land where hunting is allowed."

At Green Lakes, the park is surrounded by a great deal of residential development, with various communities having directed access through public and privately owned trailheads.

If hunting was to be allowed, Semar said, it would make sense to have it on the park's undeveloped, 500-acre, western half. However, that area contains a number of trails used extensively by hikers, joggers, bikers, birders, cross country skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts.

Semar said the public's input on the park's use carries a lot of weight in regard to what's to be done with the deer and whether hunting should be allowed.

"It's their park. It's a big issue," he said. "People are pro-hunting, but there's a lot of people who use the park who don't want hunting.

Source: Syracuse.com