PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Game Commission Board of Directors Vs. Biologists

Rooney's two cents: Hey Thomas Boop--of course you would never run a business this way. Then again, (1) this is not a business, which is a good thing, because (2) the price of deer tags does not include many of the economic costs of deer damage, such as auto collisions and medical treatment, crop and landscape damage, disease transmission to humans and livestock, and damage to forests and forestry. I'm all for your proposal to fix the "fatal flaws" in the deer management program if you are all for adding these externalities into the price of tags. I think hunters might balk at the $200-300 price per tag, though (based on some back of the envelope calculations).

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The president of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's board of directors said Tuesday the agency's controversial deer-management plan is "fatally flawed."

"We would never run a business the way we're running our deer-management program," board president Thomas E. Boop said.

Just a few hours after Boop delivered his stinging criticism of the program, the agency biologists responsible for that program recommended continuing it with virtually no changes for the upcoming 2007-08 hunting season.

"We're going to base our information and recommendations on the best science that we can and on the best data that we can," said Cal DuBrock, head of the Game Commission's Bureau of Wildlife Management.

Tuesday was the first day of the Game Commission's annual, two-day spring meeting, at which hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for the state's game animals are set for the following fall and winter. The commissioners will vote today to set those seasons and bag limits.

As has been the case over the past decade, deer and deer management proved to be the most discussed and most controversial topics of the meeting's first day.

Hunters lined up to tell the commissioners the deer herd across the state has been decimated by years of overhunting.

"To stay the course (with the management program) would adversely affect the sport of hunting for all ages in our state," said East Hempfield Township resident Charles Bolgiano, who is legislative liaison for Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania.

Likewise, forest managers and people interested in seeing diversified wildlife and plant life lined up to encourage the commissioners not to alter the course of the deer-management program.

"We are finally seeing signs of recovery in forest regeneration," said Jim Chapman, a forest manager who works for a lumber company in Warren County.

Wildlife biologist Chris Rosenberry, who heads the Game Commission's deer-management division, agreed with Chapman's assessment, and said now is not the time to reverse course on the program.

The health of the state's deer and the health of the state's forest, Rosenberry said, indicate the Game Commission must keep up the current amount of hunting pressure applied to the deer herd.

As a result, Rosenberry recommended the commissioners vote today to maintain last year's slate of hunting seasons, with the exception of extending it in part of the southeast region, where deer numbers are particularly high.

He also recommended the commissioners allocate 6,000 more antlerless deer licenses than they issued last year, for a total of 865,000 licenses.

The Game Commission controls the state's deer population by regulating the number of female deer that are killed each year.

Each license allows a hunter to kill one antlerless deer, which is either a doe, a buck that's too young to have grown antlers or an older buck that has lost its antlers.

State Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County, who is the minority chairman of the House Game & Fisheries Committee, said more people from across the state complain to him about the deer-management program than any other issue.

Hunters are complaining to their legislators about the lack of deer, Rohrer said, because the hunters believe the Game Commission isn't listening to their opinions.

Rohrer said the Game Commission's data regarding the state's deer herd sometimes contradicts itself. He recommended the agency submit to an independent audit of its facts and figures.

Boop supported Rohrer's proposal, saying he "can't make any sense out of the data I've seen."

Rohrer said he believes the Legislature would help finance and facilitate the audit if the Game Commission would submit to it.

And he recommended the agency suspend all antlerless deer hunting by adults during the annual two-week firearms deer season this fall until the audit is conducted.

"All I'm asking for is a little bit of a break in the program so that we can focus on the data collection," Rohrer said.

Source: http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/202993

NEW ZEALAND NEWS: Cull on Secretary Island Nets Over 340 Red Deer

The Department of Conservation has culled more than 340 red deer off the 8140ha Secretary Island in Fiordland since November as part of an ambitious plan to eradicate the species and create another predator-free sanctuary.

In its proposal document, DOC says it also plans to test and develop methods for "intensive control of deer" during the eradication.

Secretary Island is off the Fiordland coast at the entrance to Doubtful Sound.

In 2004 Conservation Minister Chris Carter granted $7 million for the pest eradication work on 8140ha Secretary Island and 20,860ha Resolution Island, in Dusky Sound. An earlier attempt to eradicate deer, during the 1970s and 1980s, was unsuccessful. The first stage, a stoat eradication project for Secretary Island, was initiated in 2004-05.

DOC project manager Dr Kerri-Anne Edge said 341 deer had been shot from the air and ground-hunted since November – representing a significant denting of the deer population.
DOC estimated there had been a total population of between 600 and 700 deer on the island but the species was also breeding rapidly.

The eradication of red deer from Secretary Island is designed to protect the ecological values of the island, and to test and develop "methods for intensive control of deer" , DOC says.
Main methods being tried during the knock-down phase will be ground hunting, helicopter hunting and possibly the use of foliar baited 1080 gel as a promising option. Aerial 1080 drops have been discounted.

Ms Edge said deer pens were being put on the island and self-attaching radio collars would be used to help track deer. The work would continue into next year, she said.

To have the two islands free of all pests would add to a list of important island sanctuaries, including 1336ha Codfish, 1150ha Anchor and 475ha Chalky islands. The island projects are expected to be complete by about 2014. Work on eradicating deer from Resolution Island would start in July, she said.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/4027345a6568.html

PENNSYLVANIA: Audubon Society Weighs in on Deer Population

The over-browsing of Pennsylvania's forests and agricultural areas by too many deer in too many places has eliminated thousands of acres of habitat for birds and other wildlife, and represents the largest single threat to bird habitat, after urban sprawl, according to Timothy D. Schaeffer, Ph.D., Executive Director of Audubon Pennsylvania, the state office of the National Audubon Society.

Dr. Schaeffer made the comments before the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee at a listening session on rural and agricultural issues in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

"The impact of deer on our forest ecosystem, the crop and forest
products losses, the loss of life and property from deer/car collisions and
the impact on public health from the incidence of Lyme disease carried by
deer have all been documented and the picture painted by these numbers is
not good," said Dr. Schaeffer.

A study released in March by the Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources showed fewer than 25 percent of the 41,650 forest plots they
looked at across the state showed desirable forest regeneration and almost
45 percent lacked any new, woody growth.

"Here in the Lebanon area -- the Conrad Weiser Forest District -- the
results are even worse," Dr. Schaeffer explained. "59 percent of the 1,126
forest plots surveyed showed no forest regeneration and 28 percent showed
regeneration with undesirable species."

The DCNR study and a 2005 study by Audubon Pennsylvania and the
Pennsylvania Habitat Alliance show that high deer populations have greatly
altered forest understories. The abundance of native wildflowers and other
forest-floor plants has been greatly diminished, shrub species have been
dramatically decreased or eliminated, and the variety of tree species has
declined.

From a bird and wildlife resource perspective, nearly every one of
Audubon's 84 Important Bird Areas in Pennsylvania has experienced
significant damage caused by deer over-browsing, reducing much-needed
habitat areas. These are areas of habitat critical to the survival and
diversity of bird populations that must meet dozens of science-based
criteria for designation.

"In addition to habitat losses, there is an estimated $90 million in
agricultural crop loss and $73 million in damage to our forest products
every year caused by deer, according to the Department of Agriculture,"
said Dr. Schaeffer. "Nurseries are losing an average of $20,000 a year due
to deer damage, and state taxpayers lose $18 million a year in deferred and
lost timber stumpage sales."

In addition, a 2006 hearing by the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Committee found --

-- Over $78 million in property damage occur in the over 39,000 deer/car
collisions each year in Pennsylvania, not counting the deaths and
injuries to the people involved, the highest of any state in the
nation; and

-- The incidence of Lyme disease, a debilitating and sometimes fatal
illness spread by deer ticks, has increased by over 9,000 percent
between 1987 and 2004, according to the Department of Health.

"Hunters will never agree on how many deer there should be in the
woods, and deer certainly don't go where hunters want them to; they go
where there's food and cover," said Dr. Schaeffer. "Deer are having a
devastating impact on forest ecosystems and many agricultural areas, and we
need to continue common sense policies to stem these losses."

Audubon Pennsylvania made several recommendations to the Committee --

-- The first priority should be the restoration and maintenance of fully
functional forest ecosystems, containing a full component of native
biological diversity at all levels. It is the best way to serve the
long-term interests of the people and wildlife of Pennsylvania.

-- Policy-makers and land managers should focus on the indicators of
forest health -- rather than the number of deer people are seeing -- to
assess whether our forests are recovering.

-- Until data shows Pennsylvania's forests are recovering, it would be
imprudent and irresponsible to further limit hunter effectiveness
through restrictions on hunting such as shorter seasons and smaller
antlerless allocations.

-- Support House Bill 550, sponsored by Rep. Hershey (R-Chester) and Rep.
Tom Caltagirone (D-Berks), allowing the owners of farms, forestland and
landscape nurseries to better protect agricultural commodities from the
damage caused by deer and other wildlife and would make it easier for
landowners, local governments and communities to obtain deer removal
permits. Sen. McIlhinney (R-Bucks) is considering introduction of a
similar bill in the Senate.

-- The General Assembly, Governor's Office and the Game Commission should
identify a funding base that is more stable and equitable than funding
derived almost exclusively from sources such as license dollars and
timber sales on game lands in order to facilitate the shift from
single-species management to ecosystem management.

For more information, visit Audubon Pennsylvania's website at:
http://pa.audubon.org/deer_report.html

SOURCE Audubon Pennsylvania and
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-05-2007/0004560408&EDATE=

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Forest Regeneration Failure at 75% Statewide

PITTSBURGH - A new state survey shows that Pennsylvania's deer herd is nibbling away at new growth in the state's forest lands at an alarming rate.

Nearly 42,000 plots surveyed from the air in 19 of the state's 20 forest districts show a lack of new, woody growth. Less than 25 percent of the plots in the state showed a desirable level of new vegetation.

The areas with the worst growth were the Weiser, Kittanning, Wyoming, Sproul and Delaware state forests in north-central Pennsylvania.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Michael DiBerardinis called the results of the recent air survey troubling.

The information gathered will be used to direct hunters to certain forest areas, so the deer herd can be thinned more in those areas where deer are nibbling away at new plants and trees, DiBerardinis said.

Hunters killed 361,560 deer in 2006, 2 percent more than in 2005. It was the first time the deer kill increased since 2002. Hunters killed 135,290 bucks last year, a 12 percent increase over 2005.

Source: http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/colleges/mercer/17014721.htm

MONTANA NEWS: Helena Task Force Recommends Sharpshooters

Helena’s Urban Wildlife Task Force has recommended officials use sharpshooters in most areas of the city to kill 334 deer next winter. If the city waits even a year, the group’s report said, more than 600 deer will have to be culled in order to attain an acceptable population of urban deer.

The task force’s report said the city now could be home to as many as 500 mule deer, with most living in Helena’s southern neighborhoods. Group members called the estimate conservative. If left unchecked, the population could grow to more than 1,800 by 2010, the report said. The group wants to reduce the herd to about 380 animals.

“Given the situation we’re in, (sharpshooting) is probably the most effective, it’s probably the safest, and while this may sound strange … it’s the most humane,” Task Force Co-Chair Matt Cohn said. “This is going to be the best method to achieve the goal we have.”

The group also recommended the city commission set aside between $30,000 and $100,000 for a deer-management program and appoint a permanent wildlife advisory committee to oversee the program into the future.

Task force members are set to present their report to city commissioners on Wednesday.

The report represents the end of one phase and the beginning of another. City commissioners will hold public meetings and discuss the issue. If they settle on a management plan, they’ll have to submit it to the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission for final approval.

City Commissioner Sandy Oitzinger served on the task force, which reached its decision through consensus votes. She said she’s unsure how she’ll address the deer issue at the commission level.

“How I will vote on this as a commissioner is going to depend on the interaction and dialogue with the commission … it would be premature for me to say whether I’m going to support the sharpshooting option or not at this time,” Oitzinger said.

The task force recommended several other options — including ongoing public education and encouraging the use of deer repellants and deer-proof landscaping. The group approved other options, such as fertility controls and certified urban hunting, which members said could become more viable in the future.

“There are some things that we’ve approved, but they’re on the backburner,” group member Bob Habeck said. “We wanted to recommend the slate of appropriate management options, even though they might not come into play in one year.”

Task force members rejected two options: doing nothing, or trapping deer and moving them elsewhere.

The group said allowing the deer herd to continue to grow unchecked will only exacerbate the problem, and the trap-and-transport option, while popular at public meetings held early this year, has a number of associated issues — it’s time-consuming and expensive, it potentially shifts the problem elsewhere and deer often die during the process.

The full report will be available on the city’s Web site, at the Lewis and Clark Library and at the city Parks and Recreation Department after it’s presented to city commissioners.

The herd

Helena is unique from the scores of other communities across the country that have adopted deer-management plans — the Queen City is home to mule deer, while the vast majority of other cities dealing with burgeoning herds are home to whitetails.

“The task force is plowing new ground when it comes to mule deer, because there are virtually no mule deer plans — they are all for whitetail deer,” said FWP Biologist Gayle Joslin, who served on the task force.

The group believes more than 32 deer occupy every square mile in Helena, and population projections put the herd’s total at more than 700 animals by next winter. The group settled on a goal of 25 deer per square mile, a number some other communities have used for whitetail deer, Joslin said.

In a biological sense, Helena — with its watered lawn and gardens and city limits expanding more and more into wildlife habitat — could feed many more deer. The trick is finding how many deer Helenans are willing to live with, and task force members said total elimination is not an option.

Joslin said 25 per square mile might not be the right number, but it’s a place to start.

Is there a problem?

One of the basic questions task force members considered throughout the process — and an issue they heard again and again from the public — is whether an urban deer problem exists in Helena.

The group’s answer: Yes. And it’s only going to get worse.

“The (human) population that we see is going to grow, and the deer population is going to grow,” Task Force Co-Chair Virginia Niccolucci said. “We would have nothing other than more human-deer conflicts, unless we do something now.”

Habeck agreed.

“Using professional judgment and conservative estimates … we’re on the footslope of (an exponential) growth in urban deer population,” he said.

If city and FWP commissioners can’t agree on a plan for even one year, the problem grows, he said.

“The key thing to know is, even in a best-case scenario, we’re going to be losing time and … it’s just going to get worse,” Habeck said.

In 2003, the Police Department received 103 complaints about deer, most of them calls about dead animals. The department received 16 reports of deer-vehicle collisions. Last year, dispatchers fielded 241 calls, with 30 reported collisions. FWP received 73 calls in 2004 and 162 calls last year.

Source: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/03/30/helena/000deer.txt

OHIO NEWS: Airport Deer Not Content With Runway Havoc

DAYTON, Ohio -- A bizarre incident at Dayton International Airport involved several deer.
Authorities said the animals started throwing themselves at hotel windows, causing several of the windows to break.

Officials said a glass door was also broken where one deer briefly got into the building before running back outside. Minutes later, the herd of four or five deer ran across the airport access road. Authorities said despite the chaos, no one was injured.

source: http://www.whiotv.com/news/11435336/detail.html

MINNESOTA NEWS: Followup--Deer Cull Continues in Bovine TB Area

Federal sharpshooters have killed 366 deer in northwestern Minnesota, including 125 last week, as part of an ongoing attempt to reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis in the wild deer herd and domestic cattle herds there.

The culling action began in February in a 135-square-mile area and will conclude this week, said Michelle Powell, Department of Natural Resources wildlife health program coordinator.
The final tally likely will be around 400 deer, she said.

Bovine TB has been found in seven cattle herds and two wild deer in the area, prompting officials to try to reduce the deer herd there. So far, of the deer killed by sharpshooters, three have shown signs of having bovine TB, Powell said. Those animals are undergoing further tests.

Powell said she can't determine how successful the culling effort was until fall, when deer killed by hunters in the area will be tested for signs of bovine TB. All the deer, except for those that appeared to be diseased, have been given to people to utilize the venison.

"We've had no problem giving away the venison," she said. "We have a ton of people on a waiting list." The DNR will encourage hunters to reduce the deer population in that area through special permits and bonus tags this fall, Powell said.

source: http://www.startribune.com/531/story/1076218.html

NORTH DAKOTA NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2006

BISMARCK, N.D.--North Dakota hunters killed more than 100,000 deer last year, besting the previous record of 99,600 set in 2005, the state Game and Fish Department says.

Wildlife chief Randy Kreil said the department allocated 143,500 deer gun licenses last year, down from a record 145,600 deer gun licenses in 2005.

Kreil said the overall deer harvest in North Dakota last year was more than 110,000, when combined with the bow, muzzleloader and youth seasons.

The overall hunter success rate last year was 76 percent, the same as 2005 and about average for the past 15 years, Kreil said.

source: http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8O3TNV00

VIRGINIA NEWS: Growing Concern Over Deer Populations and Lyme Disease

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Some Fairfax County residents are pleading for help to manage the area's deer population after a surge in reported cases of Lyme disease.

Infected ticks spread the disease, and deer are carrying the ticks across the county, health officials said. Fairfax County disease program manager Jorge Arias said deer are like a "Metro system" for ticks.

Lyme disease often begins with such symptoms as fever, fatigue and a bull's-eye-shaped rash. It is often quickly treated with antibiotics.

Confirmed cases of the disease in Fairfax County rose from three in 2004 to 82 in 2006. Much of the increase is due to better reporting, according to health officials.

The numbers are rising across the Washington area.

Loudoun County claims half of all the reported cases of Lyme disease in Virginia. In Maryland's Montgomery County, confirmed cases have grown fivefold since 2004 to 216 last year. Instances of the disease are on the rise here, but they are still less than some New England states, which see thousands of cases, health officials said.

source: http://www.nbc4.com/health/11372522/detail.html

SOUTH DAKOTA NEWS: Urban Deer Problems in Pierre

A deer-management program may begin this fall in Pierre, where roaming deer have become a problem in recent years.

A special task force is developing various options to control invading deer, including a feeding ban and killing some of them.

Police will most likely be the ones in charge of shooting the animals.

Roaming deer are ruining flowers and gardens in the capital city, and they're a danger to motorists. Deer also occasionally are aggressive. One resident says a deer attacked his dog.

Another homeowner says her dog was attacked when the dog began to chase a fawn and its mother came to the rescue.

A deer-management plan for Pierre will be finalized in the next month and presented to the city commission.

source: http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,55782

RESEARCH NEWS: Deer Impacts in Pennsylvania Forests Are Pandemic

Browse Monitoring Uncovers Troubling Data in State Woodlands

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Preliminary
findings from ongoing, extensive state forest studies of the effect of
white-tailed deer populations on woodland regeneration show habitat damage
is the heaviest in the north central and Pocono Mountains areas of the
state, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Michael
DiBerardinis said today.

"Like our past surveys from the air, this unprecedented study on the
ground of what deer eat, or browse, is proving to be an invaluable tool in
understanding deer densities and distribution in our state forestlands, and
it is guiding future DCNR efforts to ensure forest regeneration and healthy
habitat," said DiBerardinis.

"And, like those aerial counts, these browse-study findings are just a
single snap-shot in time, incapable of documenting whether forest habitat
health is improving or declining. They will, however, provide a meaningful
baseline to compare in future trend analyses."

The browse studies, which were conducted last year and covered almost
90 percent of the state forest system, showed findings the secretary deemed
"troubling."

"Across the entire state forest system, less than 25 percent of the
41,650 plots showed desirable regeneration, and almost 45 percent of the
plots lacked any new, woody growth," DiBerardinis said. "The problem is
more acute in the state's north central 'big woods' section where almost 50
percent of the study plots show no woody regeneration and only about 20
percent desirable regeneration. The most severely browsed habitats were
documented in the north central and Pocono regions of the state.

"For these reasons, it would be premature to draw any conclusions that
would support an increased deer herd, even in areas where we observed
relatively low-browse damage," DiBerardinis said.

The secretary applauded the commitment of Bureau of Forestry personnel
from 19 of the state's 20 state forest districts who undertook the browse
studies during early spring in 2006.

"Never has there been an undertaking of this magnitude in which data
from 1,600 miles of transects was entered into the bureau database for
analysis," said DiBerardinis. "These researchers are foresters first, but
they also are hunters and naturalists and all are dedicated to restoring
forests to a healthy level where deer and other wildlife have sufficient
food and cover."

"We will use this detailed vegetation analysis in conjunction with past
aerial surveys to help guide our management decisions and adjust our
efforts to steer hunters to certain state forest areas in the 2007-2008
hunting season," DiBerardinis said.

Transects, which are lines for ecological measurements, were spaced two
miles apart. They were sampled by visiting vegetative plots every 200 feet,
recording woody species, and assigning a browsing category to that species
at that plot. Also, presence or absence data was recorded for "desirable"
and "undesirable" woody vegetation at every plot.

Woody plants include trees, shrubs and vines. Woody plants dominate the
vegetation wherever conditions are favorable for plant growth. Deer feed on
the leaves, twigs and buds of these plants.

Other survey findings include:
-- Data gathered aided in development of a preliminary deer-browsing
preference index for woody species observed, which will help guide
future monitoring efforts and provide browse intensity indicators;

-- Across the state, the proportion of plots with desirable regeneration
(24.45 percent) and lack of woody regeneration (44.45 percent) indicate
browsing has not been suppressed long enough for a widespread
regeneration response;

-- Identifying browsing impact from lowest to most severe, the Forest
Districts ranked as follows: relatively lightly browsed with better
regeneration -- Lackawanna, Buchanan, Michaux, Tiadaghton, Tuscarora,
Gallitzin, and Cornplanter; relatively moderately browsed with less
regeneration -- Moshannon, Susquehannock, Rothrock, Forbes, Bald Eagle,
and Tioga; relatively severely browsed with poor regeneration --
Weiser, Kittanning, Wyoming, Sproul, Delaware and Elk;

-- Monitoring will continue to locate other areas of continued
excessive browsing where deer harvests should be increased, and these
efforts will be coordinated in the State Forest Management Plan.

Details on the 2006 state forest deer browse study, as well as DCNR's
aerial surveys and other information on deer, can be found online at
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us and select "State Forests."

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-22-2007/0004551483&EDATE=

IOWA NEWS: Heartless Poaching or Act of Civil Disobedience?

There's a trial beginning today in eastern Iowa that will be closely followed across the entire state.

A tree farmer will go on trial in Tipton for the unlawful killing of a deer. It's a case that will test whether Iowans can kill the destructive animals on their own property.

Kevin Kelly freely admits that he killed a deer on his property. In fact the 55-year-old said he called the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to report the act.

But Kelly maintains he did nothing illegal. He said he was simply protecting his property and that the deer was harming his tree farm. He frames his case as a test of Iowa's constitution.

"The case will determine whether Iowans can control destructive animals on their private property, as guaranteed by the Iowa constitution," Kelly said.

Others, including DNR officials, do not follow Kelly's logic.

"The case calls into question the North American conservation model, where wildlife is entrusted to the public," said Dale Garner, chief of the DNR's Wildlife Bureau.

Garner said that, under that system, "deer do not belong to private landowners to do with as they please."

Kelly has argued that the Iowa constitution allows property owners to defend their property. He points to an Iowa Supreme Court ruling in 1915 that overturned the conviction of a Pottawattamie County farmer who was accused of shooting a deer that had been eating his corn.

But others say that Kelly had other options, including a variety of programs offered by the DNR. Kelly maintains that the state did very little to help his situation. The state is expected to present evidence to the contrary.

"He should have exhausted all options before he took matters into his own hands," said Tom Fassbinder of Guttenberg, who, like most deer hunters, hopes Kelly is convicted.

"He is a poacher who needs to be punished like any other poacher," said Fassbinder, publisher of the Whitetail Fanatic magazine.

Randy Taylor, the president of the Iowa Bowhunters Association, likewise said that no good can come from a victory for Kelly.

"It would mean open season for any farmer who wants to kill a deer or for anyone else who comes along," said Taylor, of Reasnor.

Others are sympathetic. Corn and soybean farmer Tom Griffin of Winthrop said he has mixed emotions about the case.

"I love deer, but if I were a tree farmer, I would probably learn not to," said Griffin, who described his crop losses to deer as acceptable "because I love to watch and hunt deer."

If convicted, Kelly could be the subject to fines of $100 on each count, plus a civil penalty of $1,500 representing the value of the deer.

Source:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/NEWS/70319001/1001

MINNESOTA NEWS: Deer Killed to Control Bovine TB Outbreak

SKIME, Minn. -- Federal sharpshooters have killed about 225 whitetails in the past three weeks in an effort to measure and control an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in the area.
It will take about three months to find out whether the tissue from any of the deer tested positive for TB, said Michelle Powell, wildlife health program coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

"Heaven forbid if it ends up being an epidemic of TB up here," said Conway Marvin, who owns land near Skime. "It will impact our economy. Thousands of jobs up here depend on that time of year."

Seven wild deer -- two during the 2005 hunting season and five during last fall's season -- were found to be infected with the disease. Officials believe it came into the state through cattle, and contact between cattle and deer can spread it to the deer population.

Seven cattle herds in the area were "depopulated" because infected animals were found.
Powell said the sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services will take a break this week and "re-bait" their shooting sights. They'll resume shooting next week.
They've been hunting day and night, shooting deer of all ages and genders with silencers and infrared night-vision equipment.

Their target area includes a six-mile radius of Skime, just north of Roseau, Marshall and Beltrami counties, where TB first was found in a cattle herd in early 2005.

The sharpshooters must have permission from landowners. Some landowners, like Marvin, haven't given permission and will seek permits to shoot deer on their land, Powell said.
Marvin and his brothers own about 2,600 acres of wildlife habitat near Skime and they've developed the parcels for their enjoyment.

"It's our land, and we have developed it, and plowed and disced it and watched the deer grow, and we think it's a right we want to exercise," he said.

Marvin, who owns a sporting goods store near Warroad, said northern Minnesota would be hurt economically if the TB outbreak isn't stopped.

He wants government agencies to take a multi-pronged approach to stop the disease from spreading -- including subsidizing high fences to separate cattle from deer, or conducting extra shooting.

"We can't just shoot all the deer and expect it to go away, and we can't remove all the cattle and expect it to go away," he said. "We don't think the other prongs are moving very fast."

Powell said that as of Monday, the sharpshooters had killed 96 adult females and 11 adult males; 23 yearling females and 19 yearling males; 35 female fawns and 40 male fawns.
Even if a deer is infected, the meat is safe to eat with proper cooking. So far, all the meat has gone to local people who signed up for it.

Source:
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?a=287556&z=2

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Deer Carrying Capacity Workshop

Penn State Cooperative Extension in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry will present a Deer Density and Carrying Capacity workshop on March 24 at the Governor Dick Park Environmental Education Center in Mt. Gretna, Lebanon County.

The workshop, designed for anyone interested in learning more about white-tailed deer biology and management as it relates to the carrying capacity of the habitat, is a hands-on, in-the-field experience that will get participants in the woods collecting deer- population and habitat data.

"Participants will learn how to calculate the deer density in a given forest setting; how to evaluate the condition of deer habitat; and how the condition of the habitat relates to deer biology, deer numbers and deer carrying capacity," says Dave Jackson, a forest specialist with Penn State Cooperative Extension. "This is an opportunity to talk to wildlife biologists and foresters who have experience in implementing various forest and wildlife habitat management strategies."

The program will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The cost is $15 per person and includes refreshments, lunch and handout materials. The Governor Dick Park is located in Mt. Gretna.

Pre-registration for this workshop is required prior to Monday, March 19. Space is limited, so please register early. To register, or for more information, contact the cooperative extension office in Centre County at (814) 355-4897 or by e-mail at CentreExt@psu.edu

OHIO NEWS: Record Harvest in 2006

Ohio deer hunters took a record 237,316 deer during the 2006-07 hunting season and for the third year in a row the harvest surpassed 200,000, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The total number of deer taken was 13 percent above last year's season total of 209,513. The new record tops previous record of 216,443 set in 2004.

"We are very satisfied with this year's record harvest," said Steven A. Gray, chief of the Division of Wildlife. "Ohio's deer management program is a model for the country. The challenge now becomes maintaining a healthy deer herd into the future."

Source:
http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070309/SPORTS/703090310/1006

PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: House Bill 550 Allows Farmers to Contract Deer Hunters

Religion and politics. Two subjects people say you should never bring up in conversation.
You can add another to that list: deer.

We’ll never argue that deer aren’t beautiful animals. But so are lions and tigers and bears.
In Chester County, there are probably a bunch of bears, no lions or tigers — but there are certainly plenty of deer. And the fact is that these herds and herds of deer are destroying property and crops.

State Rep. Art Hershey, R-13th, of Cochranville, is trying to help the situation with proposed legislation.

Orchard growers and other farmers in the state will get some help in their fight to control crop losses from deer if the new law proposed by Hershey is passed.

Hershey’s legislation, known as House Bill 550, was unveiled Feb. 26. A key provision is that it would allow farmers to hire a contractor to kill deer on their property.

The bill is going to be introduced to the Legislature in the coming weeks. Another aspect of the pending bill is that it would expand the list of agricultural products that farmers can farm to be eligible for killing deer for crop damage.

Under current law, farmers who grow cultivated crops, fruit trees, vegetables, and raise live stock, poultry and maintain beehives can cull deer herds on their property if they have sustained crop losses.

And local farms say the damage from deer is real.

“We lose up to one-third of our apple crop every year due to the deer problem,” said Karen Vollmecke, of Vollmecke Orchards in West Brandywine.

At W.D. Wells & Associates Inc. in West Grove, President Bill Wells said that the company has sustained $190,000 in lost income due to crop losses from deer between his landscaping business and his nursery, Watercrest Farms.

“We suffer greatly,” said Wells. Aside from the loss of plants at the nursery, there is the loss of landscaping customers. “Many residents are so fed up with their shrubbery being eaten, that they say, ‘We’re not going to invest in landscaping anymore.’” An added expense at the nursery is trying to protect trees by putting plant covers around them, which only works on single-trunk trees. “We protect 5,000 trees a year.”

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, farmers do not need a special permit to shoot deer but they must contact their local wildlife conservation officer and follow all the rules.

Farmers have to abide by the safety zone law, which says that they cannot shoot within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling. The current law only allows farmers or the employee of a farm to shoot deer.

Wells said that over the years he has had employees who were recreational hunters and were able to shoot a few deer but, “the idea of being able to hire someone to do it is very attractive.”
Vollmecke said she hoped the new law would allow farmers to use contractors who would hunt with a bow and arrow. The safety zone is reduced to 50 yards from a dwelling unit for bow and arrow hunters. For farmers like Vollmecke who are surrounded by subdivisions, archers could be more successful.

Jason Decoskey, chief of technical services of the Bureau of Wildlife Protection of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that there is a severe deer problem in areas such as Chester County due to the “urban/suburban” interface.
For Stuart Constable, production manager of Highland Orchards in West Bradford, the orchard is at ground zero when it comes to the urban/suburban interface. “It’s really been bad the last four to five years.”

We think the deer problem in the counties surrounding Philadelphia is out of control. And we insist that every safety precaution is taken if the deer population is to be thinned.

Something needs to be done. Hershey’s bill is a start.

source:
http://www.dailylocal.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/DailyLocal;!1742888106?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=
pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FDLN%2FOpinion&r21.content=%2FDLN%2FOpinion%2FHeadlineList_Story_112380

NEBRASKA NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2006

Hunters killed a record total of 65,091 deer in Nebraska during the 2006 hunting seasons, 4,200 more deer than ever before, according to Kit Hams, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s big game program manager.

During the November firearm season, hunters took 43,081 deer, a success rate of 61 percent; 4,164 deer were taken during the muzzleloader season, a success rate of 26 percent, compared to 4,771 deer in 2005; and archers took 4,596 deer, a success rate of 29 percent, compared to 4,283 deer taken by bowhunters in 2005.

Hams said there were records for the harvest of both mule deer and whitetails in 2006. There were 11,610 mule deer taken last year, compared to 11,149 in 2005. Hunters took 53,322 whitetails in 2006, compared to 49,587 in 2005.

source: http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?159821
The total buck harvest for 2006 was 42,186 deer as 77 percent of rifle hunters, 84 percent of archers, 77 percent of youth hunters and 60 percent of muzzleloaders took adult bucks. The total antlerless deer harvest was 22,492 deer, of which 55 percent were taken on antlerless-only tags.

Hams said the Commission is attempting to control deer populations across the state and that is best accomplished by removing antlerless deer from the herd. “Hunters took about 22,500 antlerless deer in 2006. Our goal is to increase the harvest of antlerless deer to 25,000-26,000 during the 2007 hunting seasons,” he said.

ENGLAND NEWS: CONTINUED GROWTH IN DEER POPULATIONS

INCREASING deer populations in East Anglia mean it is inevitable there will be more road accidents involving the creatures, experts have warned.

The comments were made in the wake of an horrific crash on the A14 in Suffolk on Monday, in which a father and daughter were killed after swerving to avoid a dead deer in the road.

Ten thousand vehicle-deer collisions are reported in eastern England each year and Suffolk/Norfolk has the third highest rate of this kind of accident in the country.

Nationally, the wild deer population is estimated at 1.2 million and growing. In eastern England the number is thought to be about 75,000.

David Hooton, regional liaison officer for the Deer Initiative, which gives advice to landowners on sustainable management of wild deer populations, said there were now six different species of deer in the wild in this region.

They included red, roe, fallow, muntjac, sika and Chinese water deer, the more exotic ones having escaped from private collections and bred successfully in the wild.

A red deer - the biggest species in the wild - is thought to have been involved in Monday's fatal accident.

Mr Hooton said changed living patterns which saw many more vehicles on the roads at night accounted for part of the increase in collisions with deer.

However, recent mild winters had helped breeding success and the change to autumn sowing of cereal crops meant there was plenty of food available in the winter months.

“While foxes might pick up a few of the smaller species, deer no longer have a natural predator in this country and populations are likely to continue to rise until they get to the point where there is not enough food to see them through the winters,” Mr Hooton said.

The Deer Initiative gave advice to landowners over the culling of deer populations to try to protect crops, new tree plantations and ancient woodlands.

But many landowners were not culling at a high enough level to “keep the lid” on populations.

“We all want to see deer in the countryside because they are beautiful, aesthetic creatures but populations have to be managed properly in order to restrict damage to crops and trees,” Mr Hooton said.

The Deer Initiative is funded by the Forestry Commission and Natural England.

Source: http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=IPED27%20Feb%202007%2023%3A45%3A24%3A313

CALIFORNIA NEWS: Collisions with deer cause millions in damage claims

By Denis Cuff, MEDIANEWS STAFF 02/16/2007 02:31:24 AM PST

Pat Dupler likes to admire the wild deer in the East Bay hills, but she also has learned to fear them as potential unguided missiles that blast into the path of moving cars. Dupler has collided three times with deer at night, twice in Contra Costa County and once in the Sierra foothills. The collisions did not injure her, but rattled her and caused several thousands of dollars in car damage.

"I'm a careful driver," said Dupler, a retired Martinez nurse who drives a Volvo sedan. "I had no time to avoid these accidents. Once, I didn't even see the animal until it hit my side window and its face pushed against my windshield. It was horrible."

Bambi, a kindly friend in the forest, can become the nightmare of the highway in the East Bay and other places in deer country. Nationally, deer collisions with cars annually cause some $1.1 billion in vehicle damage, kill 150 people and injure 29,000 others, according to estimates by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The collision rate is going up as more homes are built in woodsy deer habitat, experts say. Collision risks escalate during the deer rutting season, which is in the late fall and early winter. In the East Bay, though, the risk is year-round.

California was rated 26th out of 50 states for deer collision claims last year, trailing states with larger deer herds, according to a survey of State Farm Insurance customers. But the toll in California is still significant, police accident records show. Vehicle collisions with animals in California killed five people, injured 431 others and damaged 15,750 vehicles between 1996 and 2005, according to records compiled by the California Highway Patrol.

Safety and wildlife experts have no easy solutions to prevent crashes between cars and deer. Giving birth control chemicals to deer is expensive and difficult. In the 1990s, the East Bay Regional Park District determined in a pilot project that it cost $2,000 to $3,000 annually to give birth control chemicals to each doe at a Fremont park.

FULL STORY: http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_5239753

U.S.A. News: More Cities and Towns Cull Deer

Charisse Jones, USA TODAY
The nation's swelling deer population is prompting a growing number of towns and cities to permit hunting within their borders, much of it by bow and arrow. The goal: reduce the number of traffic collisions involving deer and ease conflicts between the animals and their human neighbors.
Motorists are involved in more than 1 million accidents a year involving deer. That has led several states to lift Sunday bans on hunting or test animal- detection systems that warn drivers of nearby deer. Among communities adding limited hunts to their strategy:

•Fort Smith and Barling, Ark., lifted a hunting ban in a 7,200-acre area that lies in both towns. One hundred permits were sold for bow hunting this season, which ends Feb. 28. The hunt was set up because of concerns there might not be enough food for deer and the risk of the animals roaming into the area as it fills with new homes and businesses, says Sandy Sanders, director of a local redevelopment authority.

•Kansas City, Mo., had bow hunts for the first time in two public parks. From late November to Dec. 10, 41 deer were killed, says Debra Burns, urban wildlife biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. The City Council authorized the hunts after learning that at least 400 deer a year were hit by vehicles within the city, Burns says.

•Warsaw, Ind., in November authorized archers to hunt deer for three weeks this winter. "It was a baby step," Councilman Jeff Grose says of the hunt, which led to the killing of 20 deer. "We felt the residents in that area had a legitimate argument to declare the deer population as a nuisance."

•Alamosa, Colo., is allowing hunting by bows and shotguns on a city-owned golf course until Feb. 28. The hunt comes after incidents in which deer killed backyard pets, caused property damage and were hit by vehicles. "This won't decrease the population," City Manager Nathan Cherpeski says. "At best, it's going to slow the growth."

Suburbs of Des Moines, St. Louis, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, have staged bow hunts or are considering them.

North Carolina's Wildlife Resources Commission will vote March 7 on whether to permit a five-week bow-hunting season, the first time hunting would be allowed within city or town limits. If approved, each community would decide whether to allow the hunts.

"It's a way to help control the population," says Fred Harris, the commission's deputy director. The proposal was "generally" supported at nine public hearings around the state in January, Harris says.

Some animal-rights advocates say the hunts cause more harm than good. Laura Simon of the Humane Society of the United States says the chances of traffic accidents increase as hunted, scared deer dart across roads. Towns can keep deer from traffic by using reflectors or fencing, and residents can make their gardens unappealing with repellents or flowers that deer dislike, she says.

Towns authorizing deer hunts have imposed safety rules. Among them: Hunters must keep at least 100 yards away from any building. "We tried to take a situation that has risk with it and make it as safe as we could for not only the archers, but the deer and the residents in the area." Grose says.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-06-deerhunt_x.htm