PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Legislative Proposals to Further Politicize Wildlife Management

In Pennsylvania, there are a few bills designed to replace science-based wildlife management with political management. Introduced by Rep. Deberah Kula, HB 870 would prevent the state from addressing wildlife damage on state lands. She also plans to introduce legislation to restrict doe hunting to a 3-day season. Meanwhile, Senator Rich Alloway is drafting a bill to boost deer population densities in the state's north-central region. Source: Lancaster Online

Forthcoming book of interest: DEERLAND

On April 2, 2013, Lyons Press will release DEERLAND: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness.

The U.S. is now home to 30 million hungry deer—100 times more than were here a century ago. When we see all those deer out in the woods, most of us believe it’s a measure of the forest’s health. It is, but in exactly the opposite way we think. All across America, overabundant deer routinely devastate ecosystems and alter entire landscapes. DEERLAND traces the story of how we got here and asks tough questions about what it will take to restore the balance we’ve disrupted.

The author also asked tough questions about the rapidly changing gear, tactics, and values of today’s hunters—and about what role those hunters will continue to play in 21st Century America. And when it comes to deer, are hunters part of the solution, part of the problem, or both? Rest assured, however, that DEERLAND isn’t just about hunting. It’s a much larger environmental and cultural story. (To learn more, you can visit the author's website at www.alcambronne.com) Whether you’re a hunter, a gardener, or a birder, and whether you care about the environment, the deer in your back yard, or the shrubbery they just ate, DEERLAND is an eye-opening read that will change forever the way you think about deer and the landscape we share with them.

 Pre-order a copy at Amazon

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Legislature Considers Hindering Game Commission's Authority

The Pennsylvania state legislature is considering enacting a law (HB 2073) that would subject Pennsylvania Game Commission actions to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission.  More specifically, passage of this bill will remove the ability of the Game Commission to set scientifically and biologically sound seasons and bag limits for all wildlife. Decisions on deer season will be delayed if this passes, as is the intent. However, every other action or decision the Game Commission makes will also be delayed. Even decisions made between meetings to protect or preserve wildlife due to disease outbreak, land deals, and mineral and gas leases, as well as other actions and decisions authorized by current law and authority.

The bill seeks to require that all game commission rules and regulation go through the Independent Regulatory Review Commission. This process well known to take two years for actions to pass muster of the committee.

HB 2073 will impose an almost impossible bar to what is otherwise well managed agency tasked by the legislature to manage the wildlife in this state. That bar to proper management is borne with the intent to do exactly that: hinder, confound, and remove authority to the game commission in decision that are of the immediate or timely nature.

Source: PA state legislature 

NEW JERSEY NEWS: Petition to Continue Deer Cull

I cannot think of a prior example of a community petitioning to continue a deer cull, but that is happening right now in Essex County.

After years of vocal efforts to block the deer hunts in several Essex County parks, this may come as a surprise: The volunteer groups that handle much of the conservation work at Verona’s Hilltop and the South Mountain Reservation are circulating a petition to not end the hunts.

Theresa Trapp, treasurer of the Hilltop Conservancy, and Dennis Percher, chairman of the South Mountain Conservancy, say that while the deer populations at both parks have been reduced, they are still “nowhere near” the 10 deer-per-square-mile density needed to allow the forests and their ecosystems to regenerate. “We believe that stopping the culling, even for a year, is extremely ill-advised,” the two said in a statement. “With no natural predators in our area (wolves, mountain lions, black bears), deer populations will continue to expand unless the County actively reduces the herds.”

For more information, see: myvernonanj

WISCONSIN NEWS: October CWD Hunt Scrapped by Governor

Wisconsin will give up trying to control a contagious disease affecting the state's deer population.

Gov. Scott Walker on Friday rejected state wildlife officials' request to run a four-day October antlerless deer hunt in the chronic wasting disease zone, saying he wants to streamline Wisconsin's hunting season structure.

Walker said he's abiding by a report Texas deer researcher James Kroll gave to the Department of Natural Resources in June. The governor hired Kroll to review the DNR's deer hunting regulations and strategies. Kroll noted hunters are unhappy with what they see as a complex web of multiple hunting seasons and questioned whether the October hunt generated enough kills in the CWD zone to continue.

Unless the epidemiology of CWD changes to become less contagious (it develops an R-sub zero of less than 1.0, as experts would say) we can expect the disease to spread throughout the state.

Source: Madison.com

WISCONSIN NEWS: Deer Czar's Report Released

The long-awaited report is out.  All I can say is, "Really?  Really?"

Okay, it is not all bad.  The idea of creating a centralized deer management assistance program is a good one.  But between the obsession with wolves (Wisconsin's 6th or 7th leading source of deer mortality), the contradictory recommendations (Do away with population goals, but develop metrics to monitor progress towards population goals?), the empty platitudes (put the fun back into hunting!), to the recommendations involving how things have been done for the past 17 years (the impacts of deer depredation on agricultural crops, forest regeneration and biodiversity, deer/vehicle collisions, the special significance of deer to the Ojibwe people and other factors also must be considered in management of Wisconsin’s white-tailed deer resources), it is hard not to be underwhelmed.

We'll see how long this shiny new object holds the attention of deer hunters in the state.

A link to the report is here.

WISCONSIN NEWS: Deer Czar's Plan Scrutinized

Tim Van Deelen is not impressed by the the Deer Czar's findings. Tim is a life-long deer hunter, a former DNR researcher, and now a professor at the University of Wisconsin. He is an Upper Midwestern native, and deeply understands the deer management challenges and opportunities in Wisconsin. If I had my choice of a Deer Czar for Wisconsin, Tim Van Deelen would certainly be on the short list.

Van Deelen, who has worked closely with the state Department of Natural Resources on deer management issues, said in a letter to Kroll in early May that he found the initial findings “significantly lacking” in scientific content and objective analysis.

Tim's critique of the Czar's preliminary report highlights a few failures: - The Czar's method for gathering information from hunters was biased and did not represent scientific sampling. - Presenting unsubstantiated claims as facts (when in fact, empirical evidence suggests the opposite). - Selective "quote mining" of scientific studies to misrepresent their findings.

Source: Wisconsin State Journal

Update. You can read the full text of Dr. Tim Van Deelen's letter here.

WISCONSIN NEWS: Deer Czar Hired

Here we go again...

Central Wisconsin deer hunters frustrated by the state's management of the whitetail deer population in recent years say they are eager to see how a Texas expert nicknamed "Dr. Deer" plans to improve the state's deer herd.

The Department of Administration hired James Kroll this week as the state's new "deer czar." Kroll was given a $125,000 contract to conduct an independent, objective and scientifically based review of Wisconsin's deer management practices.

Just as we have seen with the deer population audit, the Deer 2000 exercise, and other efforts, we have another round of Lucy, Charlie Brown, and the football. Like Lucy promising to not pull the football away this time, a vocal group of deer hunters are going to accept the findings of James Kroll. Then the recommendations come out. Then the whole exercise is forgotten two years later, and the same vocal hunters raise the same issues being raised now.

The Wisconsin deer management "problem" is in a class of problems called "wicked problems." These kinds of problems are poorly (or too narrowly) defined, have no solution, and attempts to solve the problem create new problems. I am going to stop here, otherwise this post would get very, very long...

Source: Wausau Daily Herald

PENNSYLVANIA OPINION: Unified Sportsman Case Ends, Deer Wars Continue

An opinion piece from Bob Frye:

The Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management program has survived a challenge.

But don't expect to see peace in this fight.

This past week, Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Barry Feudale dismissed the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania's lawsuit against the commission, which alleged that the commission had acted fraudulently and abused its discretion in reducing deer populations.

The judge ruled that the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management program was not based on bad science, fraud, or bad faith. While the legal issue at hand has been resolved, the losing side is not satisfied. They are now entering the ninth decade of opposition to Pennsylvania's deer management.

Pennsylvania's "deer wars" — which date to the 1930s and have earned the state a national reputation as the worst example of how deer hunters and deer managers can argue like bitter divorcees — have lasted for generations, through audits, reviews, lawsuits, changes in staff and changes in board members.

Read more: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Ruling on Unified Sportsman of Pennsylvania Case

I am not sure how this slipped past me, but here is an update on the Unified Sportsman of Pennsylvania case from last February (h/t to Stan):

A Commonwealth Court ruling handed down Feb. 8 dismissed the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania’s legal challenge to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer management program.

Another so-called “Deer Wars” battle is over, with the USP losing again.

“This court ruling is a strong statement that the Game Commission’s deer management program is being conducted in a sound and scientific manner,” PGC executive director Carl Roe said. “In essence, Commonwealth Court’s latest ruling dismissed the challenge because it lacked merit.

“Our hope is that this second ruling will cease the unnecessary expenditure of sportsmen’s dollars and tax dollars fighting frivolous and baseless lawsuits.”

Read more: Centre Daily Times

MICHIGAN NEWS: Baiting Rules Changing

Michigan wildlife policymakers tentatively agreed Thursday to remove a ban on baiting and feeding whitetail deer in most of the Lower Peninsula that was designed to prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases.

The state Natural Resources Commission scheduled a final vote for June 9 on its plan, which would allow hunters to spread up to 2 gallons of feed at each hunting site in the
Lower Peninsula except for a section of northeastern Michigan where bovine tuberculosis remains a problem. The existing 2-gallon limit in the Upper Peninsula would continue.
The plan also would allow people to feed deer for recreational viewing everywhere except the bovine TB zone.

Deer baiting has been banned in the lower peninsula since 2008.

Source: Times Union

KENTUCKY NEWS: Mayor Disbands Deer Study Committee

I think this story ends with "and they lived happily ever after."

To some they may be cute to look at or feed, but for the city of Prospect, the growing population of deer is a serious problem.

After the mayor disbanded a committee to study the issue, many were left wondering what happens next.

"The mayor has decided that maybe its best to disband the committee, sit back, let everybody calm down and revisit it a little bit later on,” Prospect city councilman Alan Simon said. "I can see the issues on both sides, but I think we have to be doing it in a sensible manner and not have everyone hollering and carrying on."

Source: WLKY

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: A Quick Survey of the Deer Wars

Where things stand:

In 2008, the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee of the state assembly was directed to study the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management program.

In 2009, they hired the Wildlife Management Institute as a consultant to perform the review.

In 2010, the Wildlife Management Institute completed their report. Click to view The Deer Management Program of the Pennsylvania Game Commission: a comprehensive review and evaluation.

Some of the legislators were not happy with aspects of the report. Some of these legislators admitted not knowing enough and wanting to learn more, but others made a series of tragically stupid comments and asserted fallacies as truths while berating biologists. A transcript is here.

And the third lawsuit by Unified Sportsman of Pennsylvania may be resolved later this year.

The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania and the Game Commission may finally be headed toward a resolution of their long-running feud over deer management.

A source close to the case revealed that the discovery phase of the lawsuit the group filed in 2007 in Commonwealth Court against the agency has finally been completed.

And both sides - the Unified Sportsmen represented by attorney Charles Haws, of Barley Snyder LLC in Reading, and the commission, represented by the state Office of the Attorney General - have agreed to a Nov. 29 deadline for filing motions in the case.

A court date of 10 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2011, has been set in the event that the lawsuit is not decided before.

Official details about the lawsuit were hard to come by, but it was clear by this issue's deadline that efforts have been made to settle the case out of court. Although, a call to Haws' office went unreturned, and the Game Commission would release no information.

Source: Outdoors.com

Special thanks to a PA source.

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Judge Clears Valley Forge Deer Cull Plans

Valley Forge National Historical Park can proceed with its controversial plan to use sharpshooters to radically reduce its deer population, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Calling the imminent plan a looming "bloodbath," animal-rights advocates, who were awaiting the outcome of a suit filed last year, had requested an injunction late Tuesday night to stop it.

But U.S. District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg ruled against that suit Wednesday, thus making moot the injunction requested by Friends of Animals and a Chester County group, Compassion for Animals - Respect for the Environment.

The deer management plan calls for reducing the population from 1200 to 200 deer over several years. Deer densities at Valley Forge currently exceed 250 per square mile.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

NEW YORK NEWS: Village Seeks Deer Management Consultant

I am not accepting new clients at this time. -TR

The Cayuga Heights village board's environmental assessment on its plan to reduce the deer herd is available on the village website.

The trustees formally adopted the assessment, which is required by state regulations, on March 27, Mayor Kate Supron said.

The village must now find a consultant to conduct further study on the two issues the board deemed as having a "significant effect on the environment," which are the reduction in deer population by approximately 150 deer, and the public controversy over that proposal, Supron said.

The trustees' environmental impact statement lays out the case they've made for sterilizing 20-60 does in the village, then culling or killing the rest of the deer herd. It includes supportive statements from Cornell Lab of Ornithology director John Fitzpatrick and Cornell Plantations botanist and natural areas manager Robert Wesley, among others.

In Wesley's statement, he asserts that diverse native plant species have "dwindled greatly or disappeared" as the deer population has grown.

"I believe that reducing the density of deer could only have a positive effect on any or all rare, threatened or endangered plant species in the area," he wrote.

Fitzpatrick wrote that "the white-tailed deer population boom has reached a stage I now describe as 'menacing' for biodiversity." Deer impact on understory plants reduces and eliminates habitat for a variety of bird species, he wrote.

The village's environmental assessment asserts that most villagers support the plan, citing recent village elections and an October public hearing. It also acknowledges strong opposition to the plan by some villagers and residents of surrounding municipalities, which has been organized primarily through the citizen's group Cayugadeer.org.

James LaVeck and Jenny Stein of Cayugadeer.org criticized the trustees' assessment for choosing only two issues as worthy of further study.

"What does it say about the Cayuga Heights trustees that they are willing to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to a consultant to perform a study of 'public controversy,' and not a penny to obtain expert advice on the potential dangers of discharging deadly weapons hundreds of times near residences and roadways?" they wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.

The village sent out a request for proposals to 10 consulting firms, but has not yet heard back from anybody, Supron said. Because of the uncertainty in finding a consultant, Supron said she couldn't provide an estimate on when the village might enact its deer plan.

"I was quite hopeful that it would be well under way by now," she said.

Source: Ithaca Journal

WISCONSIN NEWS: New Hunt Structure Aims to Increase Deer

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approved a fall deer hunt structure on Wednesday aimed at increasing the antlerless deer population.

Hunters will be allowed to kill only bucks in 18 management zones, instead of the previous 13 zones. The board also reduced the number of zones with antlerless-only herd control hunts from 50 last year to 46 this fall.

Hunters recently complained DNR strategies to control herds have actually depleted the population and endangered the sport of hunting.

DNR officials are optimistic that the new structure will increase the overall population. The board voted 6-1 to approve the measure at its meeting in Green Bay on Wednesday.

Source: WKOW

NEVADA NEWS: Mule Deer Declining, Predators Targeted, Biologists Ignored

Declining western deer herds have biologists, sportsman groups and environmentalists clashing over whether mountain lions and coyotes are largely to blame and should pay with their lives.

On one side are those who believe the number of deer predators should be reduced through targeted hunting programs. Others say factors such as the loss of natural habitat and wildfires are the issue.

It's an emotional debate, says Jim Heffelfinger, regional game specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

"The scenario plays out in just about every state, Heffelfinger says. "When these things flare up, they're white hot."

That's the case now in Nevada, where the issue of killing lions and coyotes that prey on deer has state Department of Wildlife officials at odds with a governor-appointed commission that oversees them.

Nevada's mule deer numbered about 106,000 in 2009, down from a high of 240,000 in 1988, according to state estimates. Mule deer, characterized by their large, mule-like ears, are common throughout the western United States.

"We've got a war going on," says Cecil Fredi, president of Hunter's Alert, one of two hunters groups that petitioned the Nevada Wildlife Commission to approve three predator-control projects last December. It did so against the advice of department Director Ken Mayer and his biologists, who said killing mountain lions and coyotes was not scientifically justified.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, which has the final say, refused to proceed. Doing so without full support of state wildlife officials would put them in an "untenable position," says Jeff Green, director of the western region for Wildlife Services.

State biologists say the deer's troubles are not due to predators but to continuing loss of habitat from development, wildfire and invading non-native grasses.

Tony Wasley, Nevada's mule deer specialist, says when lack of habitat is the problem, "all the predator control in the world won't result in any benefit."

Gerald Lent, chairman of the Nevada Wildlife Commission, says predators are an important part of Nevada's mule deer problems and addressing them is "long overdue."

The issue is also heating up in Arizona and Oregon. Arizona's mule deer number about 120,000, half the size of the herd in 1986, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Oregon's mule deer numbered 216,154 in 2009, down from 256,000 in 1990, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Duane Dungannon, state coordinator of the Oregon Hunters Association, says that even though mountain lion hunting is allowed year-round, "it's not even putting a dent in the state's cougar population."

"It's no longer that uncommon to bump into a cougar when you're deer or elk hunting, but it's becoming more uncommon to run into a deer or elk," he says.

Brooks Fahy, executive director of the non-profit Predator Defense, based in Eugene, Ore., worries the state's cougar population is "crashing" because of year-round hunting.

Source: USA Today

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: WMI Audit Complete, Transparency Sought

A scientific review designed to deflate some of the controversy over the management of deer in Pennsylvania may instead promote it.

The Wildlife Management Institute recently completed a review of the Game Commission's methods for managing deer in the state. It was largely complimentary.

Scot Williamson, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based institute, told members of the General Assembly's Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Tuesday at the state Capitol that the commission's deer program is "scientifically sound" and based on a "credible model."

"But there is room for continuous improvement," he said.

It was one of his team's recommendations for making things better that has already sparked lots of debate.

Williamson pointed out that Game Commission biologists have been estimating deer populations both statewide and within each of the state's 22 wildlife management units. They have not been making those numbers public, however.

He suggested that needs to change.

Keeping the numbers hidden "has weakened the trust placed in the Pennsylvania Game Commission by the public and has affected the agency's credibility."

Carl Roe, the commission's executive director, defended the agency's practice of staying away from numbers.

For decades, the commission estimated deer populations and released those to the public. That did nothing to eliminate controversy over whether the number of deer in the wild fit the available habitat, he said.

That's why the commission has more recently tried to get hunters and others to look at deer impacts rather than deer numbers alone, he said.

"In reality, that actual estimate is irrelevant to (the deer herd's) effect," Roe said.

"We trained (hunters) to look at deer numbers per square mile. We're trying to shift that to get them to look at forest regeneration.

That's all well and good, said state Rep. Dave Levdansky, the Allegheny County legislator who requested this deer audit be done. But he said the commission should share its deer population estimates, too.

"That's like saying it's important to know whether the balance on my credit card is going up or down over time, but not what the actual balance on my American Express is," Levdansky said. "No, I think they're both important."

Regardless of whether the state talks about deer in terms of numbers or impacts, though, the question of whether the deer herd is the right size figures to go on.

The audit points out that the state's deer herd has been reduced by 25 percent since 2002. Rep. Bob Godshall, a Montgomery County Republican, said Tuesday he thinks most hunters would say the herd's been shrunk considerably more than that.

He called the reduction "the decimation" of the deer population.

Yet Bill Healy, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research biologist who collaborated on the report, said problems with forest regeneration — which has many causes — can only be addressed when deer are in balance with their food supply, and Pennsylvania may not be at that point yet.

"A 25 percent reduction looks like a big change. But it may not be quite enough," Healy said.

Deer recommendations

The Wildlife Management Institute's audit of the Game Commission's deer program called for some change. Its recommendations include:

» Discontinuing its use of counting deer embryos to measure deer health. That can work, but only if the commission were able to collect far more embryos than it is now.

» Expanding the monitoring of forest conditions to determine whether the deer program is leading to more forest regeneration.

» Refine its citizens advisory committees to include more non-hunters and/or have the committee on a statewide basis.

» Counting deer taken in the red tag, DMAP and urban deer programs more fully in its harvest totals.

Source: Pittsburgh Live

INDIANA NEWS: City Creates Community Deer Task Force

Involving the community at the earliest stages is smart politically. It fosters civic engagement and shares the burden of responsibility of decisions.

A southern Indiana city is looking for ways to deal with worries over more deer showing up in urban and suburban areas.

The Bloomington City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved creating a community deer task force following complaints from residents that the animals pose a safety risk.

Councilman Dave Rollo says he hopes the group will present its recommendations by September.

In September, a petition with 500 signatures was presented to City Council members and Monroe County commissioners asking them to create the task force.

Source: WTHR

WISCONSIN NEWS: No Urban Hunt for Winona Public Lands

Deer hunting will not be expanded inside the city after a Winona City Council vote Monday night.

Council members voted 4-3 against expanding hunting to publicly owned lands, ending the latest round of debate over a topic that has spurred strong reactions from residents both in favor and against the proposal.

Mayor Jerry Miller and council members Tim Breza, Gerry Krage and George Borzyskowski voted for the motion to deny expanding hunting, while council members Debbie White, Deb Salyards and Al Thurley voted against that motion.

Breza previously advocated for the expansion, but made the motion against it Monday because of the divisions over the issue, he said.

"To go forward with a hunt at this time, I think, is counter-productive," he said, calling it a "lose-lose situation."

Hunting, by bow or shotgun, is already allowed on agriculturally zoned lands in Winona, but an ordinance specifically prohibits the use of bow and arrows on publicly owned lands. That restriction affects conservancy-zoned areas of Winona, including much of the blufflands facing the Mississippi River, and council members have previously discussed lifting that constraint.

Council members heard impassioned pleas from residents on both sides of the issue during a public hearing last month. That public involvement spilled over into Monday night's meeting, with Miller saying he had received one petition in favor of the hunt signed by 67 residents and another citizen presenting a survey he helped conduct in which about 65 percent of respondents were against it.

Several council members spoke in favor of asking city staff to work on an ordinance that would have allowed hunting on city-owned lands.

"Other cities have done this for many, many years," White said. "There is an issue. There is a problem."

But no motion to pursue an ordinance was offered, and the motion denying it passed.

Source: Winona Daily News