SWARTHMORE - The borough is moving forward with securing agreements with Swarthmore College before a deer culling can take place on campus.
The cull, which will be conducted by professionals, may be scheduled during the college's 2008-09 winter break.
Information on the college's Web site indicates the idea resulted from a 2003 recommendation made to the Crum Woods Stewardship Committee.
Formed in 2001, the committee worked with Natural Lands Trust and Continental Conservation on a plan that would protect and restore the woods, which span the borough and Nether Providence.
Among the recommendations of the stewardship plan was the need to control the deer population living in and depleting the woods. The proposal was made to college's board of managers and brought before the public within the last seven months, resulting in the decision to approve the cull.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5p3l5n
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
MISSOURI NEWS: Floods Move Deer on to Highway
Motorists were urged to watch for fleeing deer on Highway 370 Wednesday as sprawling floodwaters invaded the animals' natural habitat.
On Tuesday night, the Missouri Department of Transportation shut down Highway 370 between the exits for Elm Street in St. Charles and Truman Boulevard/Cave Springs Road in St. Peters after deer were wandering onto the highway and being struck by vehicles.
The highway was reopened at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.MoDOT officials said they could close the highway a few more nights as flooding of the Mississippi River continues.
"We're going to evaluate the situation to determine whether or not we will close the highway again," MoDOT Engineer Jim Gremaud said Wednesday. "Deer don't move during the day and if the deer move a lot at night we will close it."
Gremaud said the Missouri State Highway Patrol had reported about nine incidents Tuesday in which deer had been hit.
"That's a very high number of deer accidents and that's what makes this a hazard," he said. "We don't want to put motorists at undue risk."
Lisa Bedian, a spokeswoman for the city of St. Peters, said city officials contacted emergency crews after noticing deer flocking to toward the highway.
The city owns a 300-acre park just north of the highway called Lakeside 370. A 140-acre lake is the park's centerpiece, which also includes wetland areas that have become home to at least two herds of deer.
"We are keeping updates on our city Web site and are trying not to disturb the deer living at Lakeside 370," she said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3rjlwm
On Tuesday night, the Missouri Department of Transportation shut down Highway 370 between the exits for Elm Street in St. Charles and Truman Boulevard/Cave Springs Road in St. Peters after deer were wandering onto the highway and being struck by vehicles.
The highway was reopened at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.MoDOT officials said they could close the highway a few more nights as flooding of the Mississippi River continues.
"We're going to evaluate the situation to determine whether or not we will close the highway again," MoDOT Engineer Jim Gremaud said Wednesday. "Deer don't move during the day and if the deer move a lot at night we will close it."
Gremaud said the Missouri State Highway Patrol had reported about nine incidents Tuesday in which deer had been hit.
"That's a very high number of deer accidents and that's what makes this a hazard," he said. "We don't want to put motorists at undue risk."
Lisa Bedian, a spokeswoman for the city of St. Peters, said city officials contacted emergency crews after noticing deer flocking to toward the highway.
The city owns a 300-acre park just north of the highway called Lakeside 370. A 140-acre lake is the park's centerpiece, which also includes wetland areas that have become home to at least two herds of deer.
"We are keeping updates on our city Web site and are trying not to disturb the deer living at Lakeside 370," she said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3rjlwm
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
SOUTH DAKOTA NEWS: Record Deer Harvest in 2007
According to harvest surveys compiled by the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department, last year saw the all-time highest recorded deer harvest in the state and it was the eighth straight year that deer harvest has increased.
GFP Game Harvest Survey Coordinator Corey Huxoll said that estimates indicate approximately 70,000 white-tailed deer and 17,000 mule deer were harvested during the 2007 hunting seasons, for a total of more than 87,000 deer. That is a slight increase of about 300 deer from 2006 and a significant increase of more than 41,000 deer since 1999.
"We have harvest records back to 1929, a time when deer hunting was only allowed in the Black Hills, and never have hunters harvested as many deer as they did in 2007," Huxoll said. "Continued increases in the number of licenses available, the number an individual hunter could possess, season dates which include the harvest of antlerless deer only, and a decrease in the fees for antlerless licenses have combined to result in the increase over the last few years."
Overall harvest success has declined in recent years to 48 percent from 54 percent in 2005, but remains relatively high despite an increase of more than 20,000 in the number of tags issued. The number of deer tags issued has more than doubled from 88,000 in 1999 to 181,000 in 2007. Most of the harvest increase consisted of whitetail does, which has also more than doubled from 16,500 in 1999 to 36,600 in 2007.
"The decrease in harvest success in some areas is a good sign that the steps taken by the department to reduce the size of the deer population are having the desired effect," Huxoll said.
"However, the department remains cautious regarding backing off on the pressure that has been applied to reduce and control the population in recent years. Some areas of the state will likely see reductions in tag numbers in 2008, but other areas will likely increase or remain steady."
The 2007 Big Game Harvest Projections Report is complete and can be accessed through the GFP website at http://www.sdgfp.info in the "What's New" section, or it can be requested by mail or in person in printed form from the Pierre office at 523 E. Capitol Ave.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4mos9t
GFP Game Harvest Survey Coordinator Corey Huxoll said that estimates indicate approximately 70,000 white-tailed deer and 17,000 mule deer were harvested during the 2007 hunting seasons, for a total of more than 87,000 deer. That is a slight increase of about 300 deer from 2006 and a significant increase of more than 41,000 deer since 1999.
"We have harvest records back to 1929, a time when deer hunting was only allowed in the Black Hills, and never have hunters harvested as many deer as they did in 2007," Huxoll said. "Continued increases in the number of licenses available, the number an individual hunter could possess, season dates which include the harvest of antlerless deer only, and a decrease in the fees for antlerless licenses have combined to result in the increase over the last few years."
Overall harvest success has declined in recent years to 48 percent from 54 percent in 2005, but remains relatively high despite an increase of more than 20,000 in the number of tags issued. The number of deer tags issued has more than doubled from 88,000 in 1999 to 181,000 in 2007. Most of the harvest increase consisted of whitetail does, which has also more than doubled from 16,500 in 1999 to 36,600 in 2007.
"The decrease in harvest success in some areas is a good sign that the steps taken by the department to reduce the size of the deer population are having the desired effect," Huxoll said.
"However, the department remains cautious regarding backing off on the pressure that has been applied to reduce and control the population in recent years. Some areas of the state will likely see reductions in tag numbers in 2008, but other areas will likely increase or remain steady."
The 2007 Big Game Harvest Projections Report is complete and can be accessed through the GFP website at http://www.sdgfp.info in the "What's New" section, or it can be requested by mail or in person in printed form from the Pierre office at 523 E. Capitol Ave.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4mos9t
Friday, June 06, 2008
NEW ZEALAND NEWS: RFID Tags for All Farmed Deer By 2011
Can the U.S. be far behind? Sadly, yes.
New Zealand's Stuff has reported that by 2011 all cattle and deer on the island nation of four million people are likely to be RFID tagged. The initiative is part of a multimillion dollar allocation by the New Zealand government to strengthen biosecurity protections.
While there are already a dozen RFID trials underway at farms around the country, there is as yet no centralized, national database to track tagged animals. This according to Ian Corney, chair of the National Animal Identification and Tracing project and a farmer himself. Clearly such a database is necessary for livestock tracking to be effective. "What it means, now, is the traceability database can get built and we can get on with the job," Corney was quoted in reference to the new government funding.
Corney indicated that the tagging will be essentially mandatory but that there will not be new legislation for it. "There are several mechanisms that can be worked around," he said.
The total biosecurity allocation is NZ$23.3 million, or roughly US$19 million. The money for the animal tagging will be a subset of that. In addition to containing the outbreak of disease, predicted benefits from the RFID system include improved livestock management for farmers, as well as the ability to present consumers with more information about where their meat comes from.
Cattle are slated to be tagged first, with deer to follow. Depending on the success of the system, other animals could be tagged after that, including sheep (no small feat given the nation's claim that sheep outnumber people ten-to-one).
Source: http://www.rfidupdate.com/news/06052008.html
New Zealand's Stuff has reported that by 2011 all cattle and deer on the island nation of four million people are likely to be RFID tagged. The initiative is part of a multimillion dollar allocation by the New Zealand government to strengthen biosecurity protections.
While there are already a dozen RFID trials underway at farms around the country, there is as yet no centralized, national database to track tagged animals. This according to Ian Corney, chair of the National Animal Identification and Tracing project and a farmer himself. Clearly such a database is necessary for livestock tracking to be effective. "What it means, now, is the traceability database can get built and we can get on with the job," Corney was quoted in reference to the new government funding.
Corney indicated that the tagging will be essentially mandatory but that there will not be new legislation for it. "There are several mechanisms that can be worked around," he said.
The total biosecurity allocation is NZ$23.3 million, or roughly US$19 million. The money for the animal tagging will be a subset of that. In addition to containing the outbreak of disease, predicted benefits from the RFID system include improved livestock management for farmers, as well as the ability to present consumers with more information about where their meat comes from.
Cattle are slated to be tagged first, with deer to follow. Depending on the success of the system, other animals could be tagged after that, including sheep (no small feat given the nation's claim that sheep outnumber people ten-to-one).
Source: http://www.rfidupdate.com/news/06052008.html
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
COLORADO NEWS: Winter Feeding of Elk a "Success"
While 90% of the elk survived the winter, the feeding also weakened the gene pool and increased the population's susceptibility to disease.
KUSA – The Colorado Division of Wildlife is counting last winter's deer feeding program in the Gunnison Valley a tremendous success.
Extremely heavy snow all winter kept deer in the area from reaching normal forage, according to the DOW.
More than 200 DOW volunteers and staff provided food for much of the winter. The cost of the feeding program was approximately $1.5 million.
According to a DOW spokesperson, they were able to feed about 9,600 deer in the valley, saving more than 90 percent of the population.
DOW was unable to reach all the deer in the valley during last winter's heavy snow storms because many were in inaccessible areas.
The number of 2008 fall hunting licenses for doe mule deer will be extremely limited in the Gunnison Valley. DOW is using caution this season to ensure a healthy, stable population of deer.
Division of Wildlife's winter feeding program in the Eagle valley was also a success. Licenses in the Eagle Valley area will not be cut back as dramatically as in the Gunnison Valley.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/489lec
KUSA – The Colorado Division of Wildlife is counting last winter's deer feeding program in the Gunnison Valley a tremendous success.
Extremely heavy snow all winter kept deer in the area from reaching normal forage, according to the DOW.
More than 200 DOW volunteers and staff provided food for much of the winter. The cost of the feeding program was approximately $1.5 million.
According to a DOW spokesperson, they were able to feed about 9,600 deer in the valley, saving more than 90 percent of the population.
DOW was unable to reach all the deer in the valley during last winter's heavy snow storms because many were in inaccessible areas.
The number of 2008 fall hunting licenses for doe mule deer will be extremely limited in the Gunnison Valley. DOW is using caution this season to ensure a healthy, stable population of deer.
Division of Wildlife's winter feeding program in the Eagle valley was also a success. Licenses in the Eagle Valley area will not be cut back as dramatically as in the Gunnison Valley.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/489lec
WYOMING NEWS: Lawsuit Filed to Block Feeding Elk
Environmentalists filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in an effort to stop a federal wildlife refuge in Wyoming from continuing its longtime practice of feeding wild elk. They say such feeding could lead to or worsen an outbreak of chronic wasting disease in the large wildlife populations around Yellowstone National Park.
Chronic wasting disease causes brain lesions in elk and deer that result in neurological damage and death. Animals with the disease must be killed to avoid spreading it, but there is no evidence it can be passed to humans by exposure although more research is being done.
Discovered in a Colorado research facility in the 1960s, chronic wasting disease has forced biologists to kill hundreds of infected wild deer from Wisconsin to Wyoming and thousands of others that are not infected to keep the disease from spreading.
Chronic wasting disease has been found just 70 or so miles from the ecosystem that includes the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyo., and Yellowstone National Park, worrying environmentalists that it could sicken and kill animals in and around the park.
Wildlife biologists warn that feeding the animals that crowd together at the National Elk Refuge and at 22 other state feeding grounds in Wyoming is likely to worsen any outbreak of chronic wasting disease. Conditions at feed lots increase disease rates up to 10 times those found in the wild because diseases are passed rapidly among animals in close contact.
“If you crowd animals together, you’ll increase the probability of transmission,” said Markus Peterson, a wildlife-disease scientist from Texas A&M University. “They really need to rethink the feeding of elk in Wyoming.”
Environmentalists and others say the crowding of elk into the refuge at Jackson has sharply altered natural conditions. About 8,300 elk winter there.
“Basically, we’ve got way too many animals on too small an area for too long a time,” said Barry Reiswig, a retired refuge manager who now lives near Cody, Wyo. “They’re way over the elk refuge’s carrying capacity.”
The refuge’s current manager, Steve Kallin, said he had not seen the lawsuit. Asked about concern that feeding the elk could foster disease, Mr. Kallin said, “We’re looking at managing to minimize that potential.”
Wyoming’s economy would be affected by ending the feeding of elk at the refuge, which has become a tourist attraction. Last winter more than 25,000 people paid $16 each to ride on sleighs pulled by horses among herds of elk on snow-covered landscapes. In addition, ranchers do not want hungry wild elk competing with their cattle for food, and hunting outfitters want assurances that plenty of animals will be available for their clients to stalk.
The adjacent states of Montana and Idaho have banned the feeding of elk because of the risk of disease. Environmentalists said a plan completed by the refuge in 2007 acknowledged the seriousness of the threat, but did not recommend ending the feeding, which began a century ago during a harsh winter, to keep the elk from starvation.
If prions, the agents that cause chronic wasting disease, were to sweep through the refuge, experts say, they could live in the soil for decades and force the 25,000-acre refuge to close.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., by Earthjustice, on behalf of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, Wyoming Outdoor Council and the National Wildlife Refuge Association, was against only the National Elk Refuge, and not the State of Wyoming, because the National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act requires that wildlife refuges be managed in a way that keeps the land and wildlife healthy. The law does not apply to state-managed wildlife.
Signs of other diseases that are spread more quickly through crowding, like brucellosis, scabies and hoof rot are present in the refuge, environmentalists say. Brucellosis, which causes cattle to abort their young, has been a particular problem in the Great Yellowstone Ecosystem. In Wyoming and Idaho the disease has been passed from elk or bison to cattle.
source: http://tinyurl.com/3hopp6
Chronic wasting disease causes brain lesions in elk and deer that result in neurological damage and death. Animals with the disease must be killed to avoid spreading it, but there is no evidence it can be passed to humans by exposure although more research is being done.
Discovered in a Colorado research facility in the 1960s, chronic wasting disease has forced biologists to kill hundreds of infected wild deer from Wisconsin to Wyoming and thousands of others that are not infected to keep the disease from spreading.
Chronic wasting disease has been found just 70 or so miles from the ecosystem that includes the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyo., and Yellowstone National Park, worrying environmentalists that it could sicken and kill animals in and around the park.
Wildlife biologists warn that feeding the animals that crowd together at the National Elk Refuge and at 22 other state feeding grounds in Wyoming is likely to worsen any outbreak of chronic wasting disease. Conditions at feed lots increase disease rates up to 10 times those found in the wild because diseases are passed rapidly among animals in close contact.
“If you crowd animals together, you’ll increase the probability of transmission,” said Markus Peterson, a wildlife-disease scientist from Texas A&M University. “They really need to rethink the feeding of elk in Wyoming.”
Environmentalists and others say the crowding of elk into the refuge at Jackson has sharply altered natural conditions. About 8,300 elk winter there.
“Basically, we’ve got way too many animals on too small an area for too long a time,” said Barry Reiswig, a retired refuge manager who now lives near Cody, Wyo. “They’re way over the elk refuge’s carrying capacity.”
The refuge’s current manager, Steve Kallin, said he had not seen the lawsuit. Asked about concern that feeding the elk could foster disease, Mr. Kallin said, “We’re looking at managing to minimize that potential.”
Wyoming’s economy would be affected by ending the feeding of elk at the refuge, which has become a tourist attraction. Last winter more than 25,000 people paid $16 each to ride on sleighs pulled by horses among herds of elk on snow-covered landscapes. In addition, ranchers do not want hungry wild elk competing with their cattle for food, and hunting outfitters want assurances that plenty of animals will be available for their clients to stalk.
The adjacent states of Montana and Idaho have banned the feeding of elk because of the risk of disease. Environmentalists said a plan completed by the refuge in 2007 acknowledged the seriousness of the threat, but did not recommend ending the feeding, which began a century ago during a harsh winter, to keep the elk from starvation.
If prions, the agents that cause chronic wasting disease, were to sweep through the refuge, experts say, they could live in the soil for decades and force the 25,000-acre refuge to close.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., by Earthjustice, on behalf of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, Wyoming Outdoor Council and the National Wildlife Refuge Association, was against only the National Elk Refuge, and not the State of Wyoming, because the National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act requires that wildlife refuges be managed in a way that keeps the land and wildlife healthy. The law does not apply to state-managed wildlife.
Signs of other diseases that are spread more quickly through crowding, like brucellosis, scabies and hoof rot are present in the refuge, environmentalists say. Brucellosis, which causes cattle to abort their young, has been a particular problem in the Great Yellowstone Ecosystem. In Wyoming and Idaho the disease has been passed from elk or bison to cattle.
source: http://tinyurl.com/3hopp6
MASSACHUSETTS NEWS: Deer in the Suburbs
Joanne Whooten knew deer had been near her Middleboro home this past winter by looking at the shrubs on her front lawn.
“The deer came and they ate them,” said Whooten, 46, a Purchade Street resident. “They ate the buds right off of them.”
The deer population in southeastern Massachusetts has more than doubled in the past decade, wildlife officials say, and it is showing up in nibbled shrubs, chewed up vegetable gardens and more close calls and collisions for motorists.
“We get it all the time,” said Philip Wyman, owner of Wyman’s Nursery in Hanson.
“People come in with the branch of a shrub that’s obviously been eaten by a deer,” he said. “They say, ‘I don’t have deer in my yard. I don’t live in the woods.’ But that’s what it is.”
The goal of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is a deer population of 15 to 20 deer per square mile in Bristol and Plymouth counties. But estimates from the 2007 hunting season place the area’s deer population at between 20 and 25 deer per square mile, with some areas as high as 30 per square mile. Brockton, Abington, Hanover, Whitman, Rockland, Taunton and Norton are all on the higher end of that range, said Jason Zimmer, southeast district supervisor for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Overall, deer populations are down from the all-time highs reached in 2005, but development, a declining number of hunters and more restrictions on people who do hunt are keeping the populations up.
“It’s been getting much worse,” Wyman said. “People around here are seeing a lot more deer.”
In some other parts of the state, hunting has kept the deer population in check. But residential development in this region has reduced wooded areas, where hunting is easier and more efficient.
Additionally, several towns have enacted recent firearm laws that have further restricted hunting.
In 2006, Brockton city councilors tabled a proposed ordinance that would have banned bow hunting, one of the primary ways to manage the deer population.
“It’s sometimes more trouble than it’s worth to hunt around here, and to me, it’s a straight line between that and the deer problem,” said William Hart, Pembroke’s animal control officer and an avid hunter.
Nature may also be playing a role this time of year. May and June are fawn season, when the doe population is especially active.
Without a revival of hunting in southeastern Massachusetts, the deer population will likely remain high, wildlife officials said.
The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will present its recommendations next month to the Fish and Game Board, which will allocate hunting permits for the 2008 season.
State wildlife officials do not expect drastic changes from last year, when 9,300 antlerless-deer permits were issued.
Meanwhile, doctors treating suspected cases of Lyme disease are also on the lookout for other tick-borne diseases — babesiosis and anaplasmosis — that are on the rise as the local deer population increases.
“When we try to inform doctors about tick-borne diseases, we mention all three,” said Dr. Bela Matyas, medical director of epidemiology for the state Department of Public Health.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/59g8ak
“The deer came and they ate them,” said Whooten, 46, a Purchade Street resident. “They ate the buds right off of them.”
The deer population in southeastern Massachusetts has more than doubled in the past decade, wildlife officials say, and it is showing up in nibbled shrubs, chewed up vegetable gardens and more close calls and collisions for motorists.
“We get it all the time,” said Philip Wyman, owner of Wyman’s Nursery in Hanson.
“People come in with the branch of a shrub that’s obviously been eaten by a deer,” he said. “They say, ‘I don’t have deer in my yard. I don’t live in the woods.’ But that’s what it is.”
The goal of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is a deer population of 15 to 20 deer per square mile in Bristol and Plymouth counties. But estimates from the 2007 hunting season place the area’s deer population at between 20 and 25 deer per square mile, with some areas as high as 30 per square mile. Brockton, Abington, Hanover, Whitman, Rockland, Taunton and Norton are all on the higher end of that range, said Jason Zimmer, southeast district supervisor for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Overall, deer populations are down from the all-time highs reached in 2005, but development, a declining number of hunters and more restrictions on people who do hunt are keeping the populations up.
“It’s been getting much worse,” Wyman said. “People around here are seeing a lot more deer.”
In some other parts of the state, hunting has kept the deer population in check. But residential development in this region has reduced wooded areas, where hunting is easier and more efficient.
Additionally, several towns have enacted recent firearm laws that have further restricted hunting.
In 2006, Brockton city councilors tabled a proposed ordinance that would have banned bow hunting, one of the primary ways to manage the deer population.
“It’s sometimes more trouble than it’s worth to hunt around here, and to me, it’s a straight line between that and the deer problem,” said William Hart, Pembroke’s animal control officer and an avid hunter.
Nature may also be playing a role this time of year. May and June are fawn season, when the doe population is especially active.
Without a revival of hunting in southeastern Massachusetts, the deer population will likely remain high, wildlife officials said.
The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will present its recommendations next month to the Fish and Game Board, which will allocate hunting permits for the 2008 season.
State wildlife officials do not expect drastic changes from last year, when 9,300 antlerless-deer permits were issued.
Meanwhile, doctors treating suspected cases of Lyme disease are also on the lookout for other tick-borne diseases — babesiosis and anaplasmosis — that are on the rise as the local deer population increases.
“When we try to inform doctors about tick-borne diseases, we mention all three,” said Dr. Bela Matyas, medical director of epidemiology for the state Department of Public Health.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/59g8ak
Thursday, May 22, 2008
NEW BRUNSWICK NEWS: Significant Winter Deer Mortality in 2008
Fewer deer hunting licences will be available this year because of the high mortality rate for deer over the winter, says the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources.
About 25,000 deer died over the winter months in New Brunswick, because of starvation, predation and collisions with cars, said Rod Cumberland, a biologist with the department.
About a quarter of the province's deer population died during the winter, Cumberland said.
In the north, where the most snow fell, the mortality rate reached about 34 per cent, he said.
The heavy snow cover in the province made it difficult for deer to find food, and the crusty snow conditions made them easy prey for predators, Cumberland said.
The mortality rate is about double the usual figure for a winter in the province, he said, which means the province will offer fewer hunting licences for deer.
"Two-thirds of the province will see a decline in their licences," he said. "They might even be as scarce as hen's teeth in some places."
Regulating the number of licences, especially for does, will give the herd time to recuperate from the winter's losses, he said.
"It minimizes what we take as hunters, so the herd can get a jump start and start growing again in some of these areas where we'd like to see more deer."
It will take about two years for the province's deer herd to recover from the winter, Cumberland said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6axf9g
About 25,000 deer died over the winter months in New Brunswick, because of starvation, predation and collisions with cars, said Rod Cumberland, a biologist with the department.
About a quarter of the province's deer population died during the winter, Cumberland said.
In the north, where the most snow fell, the mortality rate reached about 34 per cent, he said.
The heavy snow cover in the province made it difficult for deer to find food, and the crusty snow conditions made them easy prey for predators, Cumberland said.
The mortality rate is about double the usual figure for a winter in the province, he said, which means the province will offer fewer hunting licences for deer.
"Two-thirds of the province will see a decline in their licences," he said. "They might even be as scarce as hen's teeth in some places."
Regulating the number of licences, especially for does, will give the herd time to recuperate from the winter's losses, he said.
"It minimizes what we take as hunters, so the herd can get a jump start and start growing again in some of these areas where we'd like to see more deer."
It will take about two years for the province's deer herd to recover from the winter, Cumberland said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6axf9g
UK NEWS: Muntjac Cull at Bardney's Limewoods
A TWO-DAY deer cull took place in Bardney's Limewoods, including Chambers Farm Wood in early April, the Forestry Commission revealed. It was part of a county wide ongoing operation.
A spokesperson for the Forestry Commission said: “The aim for this species is to create a sustainable and healthy deer population.“
“If left unchecked, increasing deer numbers would cause significant damage to the biodiversity of our woodlands Muntjac deer in particular uproot wildflowers, like bluebells, and over time destroy the flora of ancient woodlands like Chambers.”
Wildlife ranger Malcolm Armstrong said the growing population of deer was endangering certain species of plant in woodland across the county.
He said reports of road accidents involving deer were also increasing.
"There's certain plants that grow in here that deer favour, so when the deer population expands they are going to eat those plants out of existence.”
Mr Armstrong, who is also head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and carried out by qualified marksmen.
"Shooting is by far the most humane method," he said.
Mr Armstrong said an ongoing cull was also expected to take place next year.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4n2uq3
A spokesperson for the Forestry Commission said: “The aim for this species is to create a sustainable and healthy deer population.“
“If left unchecked, increasing deer numbers would cause significant damage to the biodiversity of our woodlands Muntjac deer in particular uproot wildflowers, like bluebells, and over time destroy the flora of ancient woodlands like Chambers.”
Wildlife ranger Malcolm Armstrong said the growing population of deer was endangering certain species of plant in woodland across the county.
He said reports of road accidents involving deer were also increasing.
"There's certain plants that grow in here that deer favour, so when the deer population expands they are going to eat those plants out of existence.”
Mr Armstrong, who is also head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and carried out by qualified marksmen.
"Shooting is by far the most humane method," he said.
Mr Armstrong said an ongoing cull was also expected to take place next year.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4n2uq3
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Arboretum Considers $142000 Deer Fence
Erecting a deer fence completely around the 22-acre Shaw Arboretum at Holmdel Park may not be neighbor-friendly or cost-efficient, members of the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners said at their meeting at Tatum Park on Monday night.
The project will cost at least $142,000 based on bids that have been received, but the board is not expected to take action until its June 9 meeting.
The proposal was spurred by increasing amounts of damage caused by deer to expensive specimen trees donated to the arboretum local arborists, said Bruce A. Gollnick, assistant director of the parks.
"We're not interested in putting up fences. We don't like it," Gollnick said. "Fences cost money, they cause problems, they need repairs."
A handful of residents have communicated concerns about the placement of a 10-foot-high fence near their properties, though board Chairman Edward Loud said he believes that issue has been exaggerated.
"If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't see it," Loud said of the proposed fence.
But other commissioners pushed for more study of the matter.
"Is it necessary to encapsulate the entire area and spend that kind of money?" Commissioner N. Britt Raynor asked, while fellow board member Michael G. Harmon said such fences tend to corral creatures — not only deer — that enter the fenced property at gate openings but can't escape.
"I'm not sure that fencing in 22 acres is not overreaching," Harmon said. "I also think we do what we can to be good neighbors. I don't think somebody who lives right next to the property should need to get in their car and drive all the way around to an entry point. We also push the deer onto nearby properties if we use the fence."
The $142,000 price was the lower of two bids opened last Friday. It was submitted by Accent Fence Inc. of Egg Harbor City; the other bid was a $202,000 offer from National Fence Systems Inc. of Woodbridge.
The fence would stretch about 1,650 feet. The park system in 2003 spent more than $180,000 to fence the 52-acre Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown.
The arboretum is named for David C. Shaw, former superintendent of the Shade Tree Commission. According to the Monmouth County government Web site, the arboretum was started in 1963 with plantings of crab apples, cherries and hollies, and the area now contains nearly 3,000 trees and shrubs.
Park system officials said future donations of materials could be withheld if steps aren't taken to protect the existing stock.
Source: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/805210427
The project will cost at least $142,000 based on bids that have been received, but the board is not expected to take action until its June 9 meeting.
The proposal was spurred by increasing amounts of damage caused by deer to expensive specimen trees donated to the arboretum local arborists, said Bruce A. Gollnick, assistant director of the parks.
"We're not interested in putting up fences. We don't like it," Gollnick said. "Fences cost money, they cause problems, they need repairs."
A handful of residents have communicated concerns about the placement of a 10-foot-high fence near their properties, though board Chairman Edward Loud said he believes that issue has been exaggerated.
"If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't see it," Loud said of the proposed fence.
But other commissioners pushed for more study of the matter.
"Is it necessary to encapsulate the entire area and spend that kind of money?" Commissioner N. Britt Raynor asked, while fellow board member Michael G. Harmon said such fences tend to corral creatures — not only deer — that enter the fenced property at gate openings but can't escape.
"I'm not sure that fencing in 22 acres is not overreaching," Harmon said. "I also think we do what we can to be good neighbors. I don't think somebody who lives right next to the property should need to get in their car and drive all the way around to an entry point. We also push the deer onto nearby properties if we use the fence."
The $142,000 price was the lower of two bids opened last Friday. It was submitted by Accent Fence Inc. of Egg Harbor City; the other bid was a $202,000 offer from National Fence Systems Inc. of Woodbridge.
The fence would stretch about 1,650 feet. The park system in 2003 spent more than $180,000 to fence the 52-acre Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown.
The arboretum is named for David C. Shaw, former superintendent of the Shade Tree Commission. According to the Monmouth County government Web site, the arboretum was started in 1963 with plantings of crab apples, cherries and hollies, and the area now contains nearly 3,000 trees and shrubs.
Park system officials said future donations of materials could be withheld if steps aren't taken to protect the existing stock.
Source: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/805210427
UK NEWS: Muntjac Deer Cull Underway in Lincolnshire
Hundreds of deer will be killed across Lincolnshire in a bid to control the population.
Malcolm Armstrong, a wildlife ranger for the Forestry Commission and head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and be carried out by qualified marksmen.
He said: "Culls have always happened in the area but deer are becoming more and more prevalent in Lincolnshire."
Around 200 deer are usually killed in Lincolnshire every year in an attempt to manage populations but this year's total may be higher.
A one-off cull in April has already seen the killing of 41 deer.
The small muntjac deer browse on low-lying plant life and have been damaging populations of bluebells and wild orchids.
Mr Armstrong said: "Muntjac really like to eat low ground plants and that really creates a problem with the flora and fauna in some woods.
"If populations get really high then rather than deer being a cute animal that people want to see they can become a pest.
"If the general deer population gets too large then they can start to pick up diseases and we need to strike a balance in management."
Muntjac deer thrive in temperate conditions and have become increasingly common in England due to climatic change and warmer winters.
Any deer killed in the operations will be sold on for human consumption.
To find out more about the cull of Lincolnshire deer, see Wednesday's Echo.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4yj9nw
Malcolm Armstrong, a wildlife ranger for the Forestry Commission and head of field operations for the Lincolnshire Deer Group, said the cull would be ongoing and be carried out by qualified marksmen.
He said: "Culls have always happened in the area but deer are becoming more and more prevalent in Lincolnshire."
Around 200 deer are usually killed in Lincolnshire every year in an attempt to manage populations but this year's total may be higher.
A one-off cull in April has already seen the killing of 41 deer.
The small muntjac deer browse on low-lying plant life and have been damaging populations of bluebells and wild orchids.
Mr Armstrong said: "Muntjac really like to eat low ground plants and that really creates a problem with the flora and fauna in some woods.
"If populations get really high then rather than deer being a cute animal that people want to see they can become a pest.
"If the general deer population gets too large then they can start to pick up diseases and we need to strike a balance in management."
Muntjac deer thrive in temperate conditions and have become increasingly common in England due to climatic change and warmer winters.
Any deer killed in the operations will be sold on for human consumption.
To find out more about the cull of Lincolnshire deer, see Wednesday's Echo.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/4yj9nw
HOW TO: Build A Deer-Proof Fence For Your Garden
When I moved to our property on Farm To Market Road in Whitefish, Montana, I chose to build a deer-proof fence to last 100 years. Though there is a path around the outside liberally sprinkled with deer dropping, no deer have gotten in for the past seven years. And I did it all myself.
Materials
Field fencing (4 ft. high hog wire)
5 six inch pieces of iron pipe, 10 ft long
Fencing pliers
Roll of smooth wire
Cement and sand/gravel mix
Fence post digger
Chain link gate, or one made from pipe and wire
Drill for hinge attachment
Fence stretcher
Coffee cans
L Bolt for hinge
T posts, 10 ft tall
1. Dig holes 2-3 feet deep (to frost line) at the corners of your garden, and one extra for a gatepost.
2. Mix cement as directed on the package with sand and gravel.
3. Insert the iron pipe into the holes, plumb with a strong and plumb bob.
4. Fill with cement mixture and let set for a couple of days.
5. Run a string between your posts and measure every 8 to 10 feet for placement of T-bars.
6. Pound the T-bars for a 2-foot depth, in line between the iron posts (I stood on the truck cab to do this).
7. Cut vertical cross wires out of two feet of the end of your field fencing.
8. Starting at the bottom, wrap horizontal wires around the post. Secure by twisting ends of wire around the first vertical wire tightly.
9. Unroll wire past the T posts to the gate and corner posts.
10. Attach a fence stretcher to the wire to tighten it along the fence posts, or pull with an attachment to your truck, or use a come along. Attach stretched fencing to the posts with wire fencing clips.
11. On fence corners, use smooth wire to attach each horizontal strand to the pipe.
12. At the end post, cut off vertical cross wires for two feet of horizontal wire to wrap and twist around the end post for secure fastening.
13. Repeat for the top 4 feet of field fence.
14. Wire top to the bottom strands by weaving smooth wire between the middle edges of the two fencing pieces.
15. Fit gate between the gate and corner post. Position so it is 6" off the ground for snow clearance and possible sagging.
16. Mark the hinge placement of the gatepost. Drill holes straight through the gatepost, and fit with a long L shaped bolt that can be tightened on the far side of the gatepost.
17. Use commercial chain link attachments or fit pipe gate with pipe clamps to hook onto the hinge.
Source: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-65-70-1558,00.html
Materials
Field fencing (4 ft. high hog wire)
5 six inch pieces of iron pipe, 10 ft long
Fencing pliers
Roll of smooth wire
Cement and sand/gravel mix
Fence post digger
Chain link gate, or one made from pipe and wire
Drill for hinge attachment
Fence stretcher
Coffee cans
L Bolt for hinge
T posts, 10 ft tall
1. Dig holes 2-3 feet deep (to frost line) at the corners of your garden, and one extra for a gatepost.
2. Mix cement as directed on the package with sand and gravel.
3. Insert the iron pipe into the holes, plumb with a strong and plumb bob.
4. Fill with cement mixture and let set for a couple of days.
5. Run a string between your posts and measure every 8 to 10 feet for placement of T-bars.
6. Pound the T-bars for a 2-foot depth, in line between the iron posts (I stood on the truck cab to do this).
7. Cut vertical cross wires out of two feet of the end of your field fencing.
8. Starting at the bottom, wrap horizontal wires around the post. Secure by twisting ends of wire around the first vertical wire tightly.
9. Unroll wire past the T posts to the gate and corner posts.
10. Attach a fence stretcher to the wire to tighten it along the fence posts, or pull with an attachment to your truck, or use a come along. Attach stretched fencing to the posts with wire fencing clips.
11. On fence corners, use smooth wire to attach each horizontal strand to the pipe.
12. At the end post, cut off vertical cross wires for two feet of horizontal wire to wrap and twist around the end post for secure fastening.
13. Repeat for the top 4 feet of field fence.
14. Wire top to the bottom strands by weaving smooth wire between the middle edges of the two fencing pieces.
15. Fit gate between the gate and corner post. Position so it is 6" off the ground for snow clearance and possible sagging.
16. Mark the hinge placement of the gatepost. Drill holes straight through the gatepost, and fit with a long L shaped bolt that can be tightened on the far side of the gatepost.
17. Use commercial chain link attachments or fit pipe gate with pipe clamps to hook onto the hinge.
Source: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-65-70-1558,00.html
Monday, May 19, 2008
IOWA NEWS: Sustained Cull Reduces Urban Deer in Dubuque
Urban deer-population surveys are inexact science, but the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Commission will present its deer-management plan to the Dubuque City Council on Monday with some good news.
The aerial count conducted in February recorded the fewest deer in the city limits since the bow-hunting program began in 1998, at 219. That figure comes after an unusually high number in 2007, when 466 deer were counted.
Greg Harris, wildlife depredation biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, monitors the aerial surveys in eastern Iowa. He said counts are down or stable everywhere except Muscatine, which saw a spike.
"It's nice to see the numbers down, but you can't explain it by the harvest," Harris said. "There are other factors involved and habitat destruction is one. That's something you can see through the air."
Harris also said the bitter winter probably forced deer to travel farther afield.
"If they're starving and there are food sources outside the city, they will move, and (they) won't move back in right away," Harris said.
The Dubuque City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Historic Federal Building, 350 West Sixth St. "Those does will drift back in."
The bow hunt, which opens in late October and runs through late January, targets does to control population growth. The city's goal is to stabilize the population below 20 deer per square mile. While that measure is often met north of U.S. 20, it hasn't been accomplished south of that line. According to Harris, reaching that "magic number" isn't of high importance.
"The better goal to shoot for is a reduction in damage and in deer/vehicle accidents," Harris said.
Mary Rose Corrigan, public health specialist for the city of Dubuque, reports deer/vehicle crashes dropped significantly in 2007 to 29. There were 48 in 2006, which bucked a trend of fewer accidents in recent years. From 1998 to 2001, deer/vehicle crashes averaged in the 40s, Corrigan said.
The city is divided into 12 deer-management zones. Harris said two zones that regularly have the highest deer concentrations also have some larger-property owners that don't allow hunters. One area encompasses nearly 2,100 acres in the northeast corner of the city, south of John Deere Dubuque Works and east of Central Avenue. The other is 536 acres south of U.S. 20, mostly between Fremont Avenue and Cedar Cross Road.
"The bottom line is there is always going to be a problem because of private-property rights," Harris said. "It would be easier if everyone allowed the hunters in, but that doesn't happen in rural areas, so it sure isn't going to happen in the city.
He said the key to population control is consistency.
"Once you start hunting, you can't stop. Let's say you hit this man-made magical number of 20 per mile and let up for a couple of years -- you're right back to square one. We come up with these parameters and want to fit wildlife into them. Wildlife doesn't play by man's rules."
Source: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=202217
The aerial count conducted in February recorded the fewest deer in the city limits since the bow-hunting program began in 1998, at 219. That figure comes after an unusually high number in 2007, when 466 deer were counted.
Greg Harris, wildlife depredation biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, monitors the aerial surveys in eastern Iowa. He said counts are down or stable everywhere except Muscatine, which saw a spike.
"It's nice to see the numbers down, but you can't explain it by the harvest," Harris said. "There are other factors involved and habitat destruction is one. That's something you can see through the air."
Harris also said the bitter winter probably forced deer to travel farther afield.
"If they're starving and there are food sources outside the city, they will move, and (they) won't move back in right away," Harris said.
The Dubuque City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Historic Federal Building, 350 West Sixth St. "Those does will drift back in."
The bow hunt, which opens in late October and runs through late January, targets does to control population growth. The city's goal is to stabilize the population below 20 deer per square mile. While that measure is often met north of U.S. 20, it hasn't been accomplished south of that line. According to Harris, reaching that "magic number" isn't of high importance.
"The better goal to shoot for is a reduction in damage and in deer/vehicle accidents," Harris said.
Mary Rose Corrigan, public health specialist for the city of Dubuque, reports deer/vehicle crashes dropped significantly in 2007 to 29. There were 48 in 2006, which bucked a trend of fewer accidents in recent years. From 1998 to 2001, deer/vehicle crashes averaged in the 40s, Corrigan said.
The city is divided into 12 deer-management zones. Harris said two zones that regularly have the highest deer concentrations also have some larger-property owners that don't allow hunters. One area encompasses nearly 2,100 acres in the northeast corner of the city, south of John Deere Dubuque Works and east of Central Avenue. The other is 536 acres south of U.S. 20, mostly between Fremont Avenue and Cedar Cross Road.
"The bottom line is there is always going to be a problem because of private-property rights," Harris said. "It would be easier if everyone allowed the hunters in, but that doesn't happen in rural areas, so it sure isn't going to happen in the city.
He said the key to population control is consistency.
"Once you start hunting, you can't stop. Let's say you hit this man-made magical number of 20 per mile and let up for a couple of years -- you're right back to square one. We come up with these parameters and want to fit wildlife into them. Wildlife doesn't play by man's rules."
Source: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=202217
Thursday, May 15, 2008
WISCONSIN NEWS: City Bans Deer Feeding
OSHKOSH, Wis. - Oshkosh residents can no longer feed deer in the city.
The Oshkosh Common Council approved a ban on deer feeding Tuesday in an effort to discourage deer from entering urban areas.
People caught feeding deer can be fined nearly $220, when court costs are added to a base fine of $75.
Council members agreed to seek other suggestions for detering deer from the residents and the Humane Society of the United States. They also are looking at killing some deer in the fall or early winter.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6r94qx
The Oshkosh Common Council approved a ban on deer feeding Tuesday in an effort to discourage deer from entering urban areas.
People caught feeding deer can be fined nearly $220, when court costs are added to a base fine of $75.
Council members agreed to seek other suggestions for detering deer from the residents and the Humane Society of the United States. They also are looking at killing some deer in the fall or early winter.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6r94qx
MINNESOTA NEWS: Over 1200 Deer Killed in TB Cull
A total of 1,207 deer were killed by state and federal sharpshooters, hunters and landowners the past six months in bovine tuberculosis-infected northwest Minnesota, the state Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday.
The sharpshooting effort to remove deer started in February and ended Friday, the DNR said. Free-ranging deer, believed to be carriers of bovine TB to cattle, were targets of removal since the deer-hunting season closed last fall.
The concentrated bovine TB area for deer removal is basically northwest Beltrami County and southeast Roseau County, in the Skime area.
Brad Swenson Archive The deer population in the 164-square-mile core of the bovine TB disease management area was estimated at 800 animals during an aerial survey conducted in January before sharpshooting efforts began, the DNR said. Aerial sharpshooters took 416 deer and ground sharpshooters took 546 deer in and near the core area, bringing the 2008 sharpshooting total to 962 animals.
During the regular deer seasons, 1,449 deer were harvested in the bovine TB deer permit area, the DNR said. Hunters harvested an additional 120 deer a January special hunt. Since the close of the deer hunting seasons, landowners have taken an additional 125 deer in an area that was expanded to include private lands to the north of deer permit Area 101. In total, 2,656 deer have been taken from September 2007 to May 2008.
“The large take is evidence of the extraordinary effort that has been underway since autumn,” Dave Schad, DNR Fish and Wildlife Division director, said in a statement. “This has been a highly successful operation that has gone a long way toward achieving our goal of eliminating bovine TB in deer.”
The state of Minnesota is under the federal designation of Modified Accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the third of five categories which outlines strict regulations for the testing and movement of cattle across state lines for bovine TB.
Hopes are to see the state split into two zones, with a concentrated bovine TB management area in northwest Minnesota, and classifying the rest of the state as TB Free.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law last week measures to allow the Minnesota Board of Animal Health authority to increase livestock testing, tighten restrictions on animal movement, provide cost-share assistance for fencing in certain areas and offers to “buy out” livestock owners in the bovine TB management zone.
“This disease is an economic burden for our beef producers, and we are committed to eradicating it as quickly as possible,” state Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Joe Martin, the state’s bovine TB response coordinator, said last week.
“We had strong, bipartisan support for this legislation from legislators, producers, and industry groups such as the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association,” he said.
“This critical legislation will provide the Board of Animal Health the authority they need to restrict movement of livestock within the bovine TB management zone and implement split-state status,” said Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap. “The bill also provides significant resources to control and eradicate bovine TB, including a voluntary herd buyout for cattle producers in the management zone and cost-share money for fencing.”
Paap added that the new law “bans wildlife feeding in the zone and establishes a temporary assessment of $1 per head on all beef cattle sold in Minnesota. Money collected from this assessment will go to the Board of Animal Health for bovine TB control efforts. This assessment shows how cattlemen across Minnesota are willing to contribute toward the eradication of bovine TB.”
Since the initial 2005 discovery of bovine TB in Minnesota, the state has identified 11 infected beef cattle herds—all in the northwest Minnesota counties of Beltrami and Roseau, the state Animal Health Board said. In addition, 20 infected deer have been confirmed to date in the same area, with several additional suspect deer awaiting final test results.
“This bill puts Minnesota in the position of being a national leader in controlling and combating bovine TB,” said Sen. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, an author of the bill.
“Up to this point, there really has been no road map for dealing with this issue and other states have had only marginal success,” Skoe said. “This bill helps Minnesota lead the way toward eradicating the disease in our state and helping other states develop aggressive and successful plans.”
The final legislative plan will lay the groundwork for USDA split-state status in order to focus bovine TB eradication efforts only in affected areas, he said. The plan offers cattle producers an option to accept an animal-buyout or extensive fencing to control animal movement and help control the spread of the disease.
In addition, herd testing will continue to be required until TB-free status is regained, and deer eradication efforts will continue. The Department of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health and DNR all cooperated on the comprehensive plan, he said.
“With this bill, we’ll make significant progress toward no additional TB-positive test results in the state,” Skoe said.
Landowners and tenants, and their agents designated in writing, can continue to take deer without a permit in the landowner/tenant area under the provisions of a special emergency rule that took effect March 31, said the DNR’s Schad. The rule is currently scheduled to expire Aug. 31, but the rule may be modified or ended earlier in the summer based on discussions with local residents and landowners. A final decision will be made in the next several weeks.
The DNR will finalize plans for the fall hunting seasons in that area by July, he said. Specific details on permit area boundaries, special and regular hunts, and other provisions will be announced mid-summer.
Schad added that he appreciates the cooperation of private landowners during a difficult time. “We couldn’t have accomplished what we did without the assistance of local citizens and federal sharpshooters. Both deserve our thanks,” he said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5ez2s5
The sharpshooting effort to remove deer started in February and ended Friday, the DNR said. Free-ranging deer, believed to be carriers of bovine TB to cattle, were targets of removal since the deer-hunting season closed last fall.
The concentrated bovine TB area for deer removal is basically northwest Beltrami County and southeast Roseau County, in the Skime area.
Brad Swenson Archive The deer population in the 164-square-mile core of the bovine TB disease management area was estimated at 800 animals during an aerial survey conducted in January before sharpshooting efforts began, the DNR said. Aerial sharpshooters took 416 deer and ground sharpshooters took 546 deer in and near the core area, bringing the 2008 sharpshooting total to 962 animals.
During the regular deer seasons, 1,449 deer were harvested in the bovine TB deer permit area, the DNR said. Hunters harvested an additional 120 deer a January special hunt. Since the close of the deer hunting seasons, landowners have taken an additional 125 deer in an area that was expanded to include private lands to the north of deer permit Area 101. In total, 2,656 deer have been taken from September 2007 to May 2008.
“The large take is evidence of the extraordinary effort that has been underway since autumn,” Dave Schad, DNR Fish and Wildlife Division director, said in a statement. “This has been a highly successful operation that has gone a long way toward achieving our goal of eliminating bovine TB in deer.”
The state of Minnesota is under the federal designation of Modified Accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the third of five categories which outlines strict regulations for the testing and movement of cattle across state lines for bovine TB.
Hopes are to see the state split into two zones, with a concentrated bovine TB management area in northwest Minnesota, and classifying the rest of the state as TB Free.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law last week measures to allow the Minnesota Board of Animal Health authority to increase livestock testing, tighten restrictions on animal movement, provide cost-share assistance for fencing in certain areas and offers to “buy out” livestock owners in the bovine TB management zone.
“This disease is an economic burden for our beef producers, and we are committed to eradicating it as quickly as possible,” state Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Joe Martin, the state’s bovine TB response coordinator, said last week.
“We had strong, bipartisan support for this legislation from legislators, producers, and industry groups such as the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association,” he said.
“This critical legislation will provide the Board of Animal Health the authority they need to restrict movement of livestock within the bovine TB management zone and implement split-state status,” said Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap. “The bill also provides significant resources to control and eradicate bovine TB, including a voluntary herd buyout for cattle producers in the management zone and cost-share money for fencing.”
Paap added that the new law “bans wildlife feeding in the zone and establishes a temporary assessment of $1 per head on all beef cattle sold in Minnesota. Money collected from this assessment will go to the Board of Animal Health for bovine TB control efforts. This assessment shows how cattlemen across Minnesota are willing to contribute toward the eradication of bovine TB.”
Since the initial 2005 discovery of bovine TB in Minnesota, the state has identified 11 infected beef cattle herds—all in the northwest Minnesota counties of Beltrami and Roseau, the state Animal Health Board said. In addition, 20 infected deer have been confirmed to date in the same area, with several additional suspect deer awaiting final test results.
“This bill puts Minnesota in the position of being a national leader in controlling and combating bovine TB,” said Sen. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, an author of the bill.
“Up to this point, there really has been no road map for dealing with this issue and other states have had only marginal success,” Skoe said. “This bill helps Minnesota lead the way toward eradicating the disease in our state and helping other states develop aggressive and successful plans.”
The final legislative plan will lay the groundwork for USDA split-state status in order to focus bovine TB eradication efforts only in affected areas, he said. The plan offers cattle producers an option to accept an animal-buyout or extensive fencing to control animal movement and help control the spread of the disease.
In addition, herd testing will continue to be required until TB-free status is regained, and deer eradication efforts will continue. The Department of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health and DNR all cooperated on the comprehensive plan, he said.
“With this bill, we’ll make significant progress toward no additional TB-positive test results in the state,” Skoe said.
Landowners and tenants, and their agents designated in writing, can continue to take deer without a permit in the landowner/tenant area under the provisions of a special emergency rule that took effect March 31, said the DNR’s Schad. The rule is currently scheduled to expire Aug. 31, but the rule may be modified or ended earlier in the summer based on discussions with local residents and landowners. A final decision will be made in the next several weeks.
The DNR will finalize plans for the fall hunting seasons in that area by July, he said. Specific details on permit area boundaries, special and regular hunts, and other provisions will be announced mid-summer.
Schad added that he appreciates the cooperation of private landowners during a difficult time. “We couldn’t have accomplished what we did without the assistance of local citizens and federal sharpshooters. Both deserve our thanks,” he said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5ez2s5
Friday, May 09, 2008
WEST VIRGINIA NEWS: More CWD Appears in Hampshire County
BECKLEY, W.Va. — Hampshire County remains an enigma to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources in its campaign to track down and understand why Chronic Wasting Disease is haunting deer in that popular hunting region.
Now that 11 more deer the DNR killed this spring have tested positive, the mystery has only deepened.
All told, 31 deer now have been afflicted with the ailment, a fatal neurological disorder found in deer and elk. To date, the only affected deer have turned up in Hampshire — a fact that puzzles the DNR’s assistant wildlife chief, Paul Johansen.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” he said Thursday.
“I’ve stayed up nights pondering that question. Why did it show up? How did it get here? The reality is we may never know. I guess the important thing is to make sure we do engage our management plan to try to put in place appropriate management strategies to try to address the disease.”
While not harmful to humans, cattle or other domestic animals, CWD is a death sentence to any deer or elk that contracts it.
Some hunter-harvested deer tested positive last fall in Hampshire, but so far, not a single CWD-infected whitetail has been discovered outside that county.
“We’re pleased to see from a distribution standpoint, looking at the landscape, all of those positives were pretty tightly confined to that geographic area around Slanesville, where the original index animal was,” Johansen said.
“We did not pick up any additional positives in that Yellow Springs area.”
For the past few years, the DNR has performed a statewide surveillance program but hasn’t found any CWD outside a small pocket of Hampshire, he said.
In fact, the original index animal surfaced Sept. 2, 2005, as part of the DNR’s roadkill surveillance, Johansen pointed out.
Besides roadkill vigilance, the DNR looks for the disease in targeted areas, seeking out any animals that exhibit the clinical signs of it.
“We try to get our hands on those as well,” he said.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by abnormal, proteinaceous particles known as prions engaged in a slow assault of the brain, causing deer and elk to progressively become emaciated, display bizarre behavior and invariably die.
DNR Director Frank Jezioro said in a statement from his office that “some of the best wildlife biologists and veterinarians in the world” are working on CWD, including those at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Ga.
“Landowner and hunter cooperation throughout this entire CWD surveillance effort in Hampshire County has been excellent,” he said.
“As we strive to meet this wildlife disease challenge and implement appropriate management strategies, the continued support and involvement of landowners and hunters will be essential.”
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3gm9j3
Now that 11 more deer the DNR killed this spring have tested positive, the mystery has only deepened.
All told, 31 deer now have been afflicted with the ailment, a fatal neurological disorder found in deer and elk. To date, the only affected deer have turned up in Hampshire — a fact that puzzles the DNR’s assistant wildlife chief, Paul Johansen.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” he said Thursday.
“I’ve stayed up nights pondering that question. Why did it show up? How did it get here? The reality is we may never know. I guess the important thing is to make sure we do engage our management plan to try to put in place appropriate management strategies to try to address the disease.”
While not harmful to humans, cattle or other domestic animals, CWD is a death sentence to any deer or elk that contracts it.
Some hunter-harvested deer tested positive last fall in Hampshire, but so far, not a single CWD-infected whitetail has been discovered outside that county.
“We’re pleased to see from a distribution standpoint, looking at the landscape, all of those positives were pretty tightly confined to that geographic area around Slanesville, where the original index animal was,” Johansen said.
“We did not pick up any additional positives in that Yellow Springs area.”
For the past few years, the DNR has performed a statewide surveillance program but hasn’t found any CWD outside a small pocket of Hampshire, he said.
In fact, the original index animal surfaced Sept. 2, 2005, as part of the DNR’s roadkill surveillance, Johansen pointed out.
Besides roadkill vigilance, the DNR looks for the disease in targeted areas, seeking out any animals that exhibit the clinical signs of it.
“We try to get our hands on those as well,” he said.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by abnormal, proteinaceous particles known as prions engaged in a slow assault of the brain, causing deer and elk to progressively become emaciated, display bizarre behavior and invariably die.
DNR Director Frank Jezioro said in a statement from his office that “some of the best wildlife biologists and veterinarians in the world” are working on CWD, including those at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Ga.
“Landowner and hunter cooperation throughout this entire CWD surveillance effort in Hampshire County has been excellent,” he said.
“As we strive to meet this wildlife disease challenge and implement appropriate management strategies, the continued support and involvement of landowners and hunters will be essential.”
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3gm9j3
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
NEW YORK NEWS: Deer Sightings on Staten Island Continue to Rise
There will be no deer hunting on Staten Island. Not anytime soon, probably not ever.
But there are deer aplenty, and in growing numbers, on Staten Island, the closest thing New York City has to a suburban borough, browsing in people’s yards, drawing double-takes at highway interchanges, getting hit by cars. There are so many deer that the state decided it needed to study them and figure out what to do about them.
According to the study, released on Friday, there are at least 24 deer, concentrated on the western side of the island, including at least two fawns. It is enough to constitute an unusual pest-control challenge in the nation’s largest city.
“Deer are beautiful animals, and we love to see them in the wild,” Suzanne Mattei, the regional director for the State Department of Environmental Conservation, said at an outdoor news conference at the Greenbelt Nature Center in the island’s lushly wooded heart. “But when they come into urban areas, we have to manage them carefully.”
The proposals made in the study are modest ones: more deer-crossing signs (eight were installed along the West Shore Expressway last year at the urging of Assemblyman Michael Cusick), some fencing and a public-education campaign.
“We want Staten Islanders to be deer-savvy,” said the deputy borough president, Ed Burke.
Officials warn that in addition to endangering drivers, deer are host to the ticks that carry Lyme disease.
And if unchecked, the deer could put a serious dent in Staten Island’s greenery, which is already threatened by development, said Joseph Pane, the state biologist who conducted the survey by traipsing through the woods for most of January and February.
“They’ll eat everything within reach, to the point where you have nothing growing,” Mr. Pane said, as if describing an attack by 350-pound rats with antlers. “They go after things as soon as they sprout and you have no seed source.”
While the survey took in only a fraction of the island’s wooded areas, Ms. Mattei said the department felt that 24 deer counted represented most of the herd.
“At least now we have data,” she said. “We have something more than just, ‘Golly gee, I saw a deer.’ ”
Deer sightings began to be reported with some frequency on Staten Island around 2000. State officials say the deer swam across the Arthur Kill from New Jersey, decades after having been wiped out on the island.
But old-timers in the island’s rugged southwest corner say the deer never left. “There have always been deer on Staten Island,” said Cherryl Mitchell, who runs a stable called Richer Farm in Charleston, just north of the Outerbridge Crossing. “My husband is a native Staten Islander, he’s 66 years old, and he’s seen them since he was 6 years old.”
Mrs. Mitchell, 57, said that when she moved to Charleston in 1979, she would see deer tracks, but after a wave of construction nearby, she started to see deer. She said she had been spotting one deer, which she named Grandpa, recognizable by a distinctly crooked nostril, for 18 years.
Mrs. Mitchell said she had also seen men with bows and arrows hunting the deer in Clay Pit Ponds State Park, adjoining her property. Last year, the conservation department received a spate of complaints about hunters shooting at deer.
Hunting, whether with bow and arrow or firearm, is illegal in New York City, which is why a harvest is not among the management options the state is considering. And though deer have natural predators elsewhere in the state, there are no plans to introduce bears or coyotes to Staten Island either.
“I think it’s going to be challenging enough dealing with the coexistence of the deer and the people,” Ms. Mattei said.
The deer survey, which will become an annual event, was based on sightings called in by residents in January and February. The sighting log reads like a tour of the island’s back roads and parking lots.
“Three deer, gully behind Target near Englewood Ave.”
“1/27/2008, six deer, skating pavilion, Arthur Kill Road.”
The sightings were concentrated in four areas: near Howland Hook in the northwest corner of the island, near Clay Pit Ponds State Park, near Mount Loretto and Tottenville at the southern tip, and around the Greenbelt. Mr. Pane bundled up, took clipboard in hand and went on the prowl.
Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mitchell led a reporter on her own deer tour in the woods just beyond her riding ring. In five minutes, she pointed out the tracks of at least six deer: does with rounded hoofprints, bucks with big pointy prints the length of a man’s finger, fawns with little prints.
Mrs. Mitchell had little use for the state and its scientist-bureaucrats. But she said she agreed with the conclusions of the study.
“They need to just properly put some fences along the highways, put some signs up and leave them the hell alone,” she said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5doymf
But there are deer aplenty, and in growing numbers, on Staten Island, the closest thing New York City has to a suburban borough, browsing in people’s yards, drawing double-takes at highway interchanges, getting hit by cars. There are so many deer that the state decided it needed to study them and figure out what to do about them.
According to the study, released on Friday, there are at least 24 deer, concentrated on the western side of the island, including at least two fawns. It is enough to constitute an unusual pest-control challenge in the nation’s largest city.
“Deer are beautiful animals, and we love to see them in the wild,” Suzanne Mattei, the regional director for the State Department of Environmental Conservation, said at an outdoor news conference at the Greenbelt Nature Center in the island’s lushly wooded heart. “But when they come into urban areas, we have to manage them carefully.”
The proposals made in the study are modest ones: more deer-crossing signs (eight were installed along the West Shore Expressway last year at the urging of Assemblyman Michael Cusick), some fencing and a public-education campaign.
“We want Staten Islanders to be deer-savvy,” said the deputy borough president, Ed Burke.
Officials warn that in addition to endangering drivers, deer are host to the ticks that carry Lyme disease.
And if unchecked, the deer could put a serious dent in Staten Island’s greenery, which is already threatened by development, said Joseph Pane, the state biologist who conducted the survey by traipsing through the woods for most of January and February.
“They’ll eat everything within reach, to the point where you have nothing growing,” Mr. Pane said, as if describing an attack by 350-pound rats with antlers. “They go after things as soon as they sprout and you have no seed source.”
While the survey took in only a fraction of the island’s wooded areas, Ms. Mattei said the department felt that 24 deer counted represented most of the herd.
“At least now we have data,” she said. “We have something more than just, ‘Golly gee, I saw a deer.’ ”
Deer sightings began to be reported with some frequency on Staten Island around 2000. State officials say the deer swam across the Arthur Kill from New Jersey, decades after having been wiped out on the island.
But old-timers in the island’s rugged southwest corner say the deer never left. “There have always been deer on Staten Island,” said Cherryl Mitchell, who runs a stable called Richer Farm in Charleston, just north of the Outerbridge Crossing. “My husband is a native Staten Islander, he’s 66 years old, and he’s seen them since he was 6 years old.”
Mrs. Mitchell, 57, said that when she moved to Charleston in 1979, she would see deer tracks, but after a wave of construction nearby, she started to see deer. She said she had been spotting one deer, which she named Grandpa, recognizable by a distinctly crooked nostril, for 18 years.
Mrs. Mitchell said she had also seen men with bows and arrows hunting the deer in Clay Pit Ponds State Park, adjoining her property. Last year, the conservation department received a spate of complaints about hunters shooting at deer.
Hunting, whether with bow and arrow or firearm, is illegal in New York City, which is why a harvest is not among the management options the state is considering. And though deer have natural predators elsewhere in the state, there are no plans to introduce bears or coyotes to Staten Island either.
“I think it’s going to be challenging enough dealing with the coexistence of the deer and the people,” Ms. Mattei said.
The deer survey, which will become an annual event, was based on sightings called in by residents in January and February. The sighting log reads like a tour of the island’s back roads and parking lots.
“Three deer, gully behind Target near Englewood Ave.”
“1/27/2008, six deer, skating pavilion, Arthur Kill Road.”
The sightings were concentrated in four areas: near Howland Hook in the northwest corner of the island, near Clay Pit Ponds State Park, near Mount Loretto and Tottenville at the southern tip, and around the Greenbelt. Mr. Pane bundled up, took clipboard in hand and went on the prowl.
Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mitchell led a reporter on her own deer tour in the woods just beyond her riding ring. In five minutes, she pointed out the tracks of at least six deer: does with rounded hoofprints, bucks with big pointy prints the length of a man’s finger, fawns with little prints.
Mrs. Mitchell had little use for the state and its scientist-bureaucrats. But she said she agreed with the conclusions of the study.
“They need to just properly put some fences along the highways, put some signs up and leave them the hell alone,” she said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5doymf
Monday, April 28, 2008
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Lowest Deer Harvest in 16 Years
During the 2007 and 2008 hunting seasons, New Jersey's deer hunters killed the least amount of whitetails in 16 years, according to newly released statistics.
The finding is reported in the state Division of Fish and Wildlife's just-published tally of the latest deer harvest. In it, the division says hunters took 47,017 animals in the Fall Bow, Youth Hunt, Permit Bow, 6-Day Firearm, Permit Muzzleloader, Permit Shotgun and Winter Bow hunting seasons.
That figure represents the fewest deer shot by hunters since the 1991 and 1992 seasons when 45,416 whitetails were culled. It falls far short of the 56,673 deer in 2006 and 2007, and pales in comparison to the high-water mark set in 2000 and 2001, when 77,444 deer were taken.
According to Fish and Wildlife, 17,467 of the most recent seasons' harvested deer were antlered and 29,549 were antlerless. As has been the case since the 1987 and 1988 seasons, most of the deer -- 17,094 -- were killed during the Permit Shotgun season. In 1999 and 2000, 28,498 deer were removed from the herd during Permit Shotgun season.
To find a Fall Bow season as slow as last year's, when 9,994 deer were arrowed, one needs to look to 1987 and 1988, when the tally was 8,483.
The anemic numbers are pretty much the same across the board: The 725 deer taken during the Youth Hunt is the second-lowest number since the hunt was initiated in 2001 and 2002; Permit Bow hunters, who took 6,086, fared worse than any Permit Bow participants since 1995 and 1996; 6-Day Firearm ("Buck Season") hunters managed 8,338 deer, fewer than in any season since 1995 and 1996.
However, there is one bright spot in the new numbers: The Winter Bow number of 1,232 is actually the third-best on record and is 110 more than reported for the comparable 2006-07 season.
Division of Fish and Wildlife assistant director Larry Herrighty said he'd like to see another year's worth of data before hypothesizing why the deer harvest is down so much.
"We don't see a pattern," he said. Herrighty added that a number of factors go into annual deer hunt numbers, including weather and hunter participation.
"During the early muzzleloader season there were heavy rains," he noted. "Even on opening day of buck season, the weather wasn't ideal."
The lower numbers could just be a sign that the efforts, by the division and the state Fish and Game Council, to winnow New Jersey's deer population are working. "We are attempting to decrease the population and, as we do, the harvest will go down," Herrighty said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3nbp6c
The finding is reported in the state Division of Fish and Wildlife's just-published tally of the latest deer harvest. In it, the division says hunters took 47,017 animals in the Fall Bow, Youth Hunt, Permit Bow, 6-Day Firearm, Permit Muzzleloader, Permit Shotgun and Winter Bow hunting seasons.
That figure represents the fewest deer shot by hunters since the 1991 and 1992 seasons when 45,416 whitetails were culled. It falls far short of the 56,673 deer in 2006 and 2007, and pales in comparison to the high-water mark set in 2000 and 2001, when 77,444 deer were taken.
According to Fish and Wildlife, 17,467 of the most recent seasons' harvested deer were antlered and 29,549 were antlerless. As has been the case since the 1987 and 1988 seasons, most of the deer -- 17,094 -- were killed during the Permit Shotgun season. In 1999 and 2000, 28,498 deer were removed from the herd during Permit Shotgun season.
To find a Fall Bow season as slow as last year's, when 9,994 deer were arrowed, one needs to look to 1987 and 1988, when the tally was 8,483.
The anemic numbers are pretty much the same across the board: The 725 deer taken during the Youth Hunt is the second-lowest number since the hunt was initiated in 2001 and 2002; Permit Bow hunters, who took 6,086, fared worse than any Permit Bow participants since 1995 and 1996; 6-Day Firearm ("Buck Season") hunters managed 8,338 deer, fewer than in any season since 1995 and 1996.
However, there is one bright spot in the new numbers: The Winter Bow number of 1,232 is actually the third-best on record and is 110 more than reported for the comparable 2006-07 season.
Division of Fish and Wildlife assistant director Larry Herrighty said he'd like to see another year's worth of data before hypothesizing why the deer harvest is down so much.
"We don't see a pattern," he said. Herrighty added that a number of factors go into annual deer hunt numbers, including weather and hunter participation.
"During the early muzzleloader season there were heavy rains," he noted. "Even on opening day of buck season, the weather wasn't ideal."
The lower numbers could just be a sign that the efforts, by the division and the state Fish and Game Council, to winnow New Jersey's deer population are working. "We are attempting to decrease the population and, as we do, the harvest will go down," Herrighty said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3nbp6c
Monday, April 21, 2008
WISCONSIN OPINION: The Science Says "Stop Baiting and Feeding"
It’s rarely a good idea to feed a wild animal, but it’s an especially bad idea to feed a wild deer.
That notion has gotten through to Wisconsin sportsmen. Now, it needs to get through to the state Legislature.
Last week, Wisconsin sportsmen vote, 54-46 percent, to ban the feeding and baiting of deer statewide. Baiting and feeding is already illegal in the 26 southern Wisconsin counties nearest to the 2002 outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease.
The research is clear that baiting and feeding artificially concentrate deer and facilitate the spread of CWD and other diseases. Since deer, unlike bears, often move in groups, they feed together at the same locations. Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Ron Lichtie compares bait and feed piles to human beings at a buffet eating off the same plate.
Baiting also interferes with the normal deer hunt. Research shows:
* Feeding of deer increases reproduction and survival, which makes traditional herd control methods less effective and increases the need for earn-a-buck and October hunting seasons.
* Baiting and feeding cause deer to go nocturnal and concentrate deer on refuges, which makes a successful hunting experience more difficult.
* Baiting and feeding concentrate deer on private property -- especially parcels with the most bait -- and hinder opportunities for sportsmen who rely on public hunting lands.
But if you’re not inclined to believe the DNR, then perhaps you’ll believe the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. It raised the spectre of bovine tuberculosis, which has already been identified in Michigan and Minnesota, and the real possibility that the artificial concentration of deer threatens domestic livestock. The loss of Wisconsin’s TB-free status would cost state farmers nearly $2 million annually in additional testing costs.
Sportsmen and farmers have spoken up, but only the state Legislature can enact a baiting and feeding ban. It’s time for area lawmakers -- state Sens. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), and state Reps. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls), Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg) and Lee Nerison (R-Westby)-- to take a visible leadership role on this issue. The science is indisputable, and it should trump politics.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5xvuzc
That notion has gotten through to Wisconsin sportsmen. Now, it needs to get through to the state Legislature.
Last week, Wisconsin sportsmen vote, 54-46 percent, to ban the feeding and baiting of deer statewide. Baiting and feeding is already illegal in the 26 southern Wisconsin counties nearest to the 2002 outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease.
The research is clear that baiting and feeding artificially concentrate deer and facilitate the spread of CWD and other diseases. Since deer, unlike bears, often move in groups, they feed together at the same locations. Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Ron Lichtie compares bait and feed piles to human beings at a buffet eating off the same plate.
Baiting also interferes with the normal deer hunt. Research shows:
* Feeding of deer increases reproduction and survival, which makes traditional herd control methods less effective and increases the need for earn-a-buck and October hunting seasons.
* Baiting and feeding cause deer to go nocturnal and concentrate deer on refuges, which makes a successful hunting experience more difficult.
* Baiting and feeding concentrate deer on private property -- especially parcels with the most bait -- and hinder opportunities for sportsmen who rely on public hunting lands.
But if you’re not inclined to believe the DNR, then perhaps you’ll believe the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. It raised the spectre of bovine tuberculosis, which has already been identified in Michigan and Minnesota, and the real possibility that the artificial concentration of deer threatens domestic livestock. The loss of Wisconsin’s TB-free status would cost state farmers nearly $2 million annually in additional testing costs.
Sportsmen and farmers have spoken up, but only the state Legislature can enact a baiting and feeding ban. It’s time for area lawmakers -- state Sens. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), and state Reps. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls), Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg) and Lee Nerison (R-Westby)-- to take a visible leadership role on this issue. The science is indisputable, and it should trump politics.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5xvuzc
Thursday, April 10, 2008
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Game Commission Approves Management Audit
Rooney: Get ready for a repeat of the Wisconsin experience.
Dan Moul used to hunt near Sinnemahoning in northcentral part of the state, but he stopped going a few years ago.
"There were more deer down here than there were up there," said Moul, a Republican state House representative from Conewago Township.
Other hunters stopped going, too, and several businesses in the Cameron County town have shut down as a result.
"The white-tailed deer is what a lot of these towns survive on," Moul said.
Moul said he's talked to representatives from the Game Commission about how displeased constituents are, but "I may as well have been hitting my head on the wall."
The state House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution earlier this week that calls for an independent, out-of-state party to conduct a study on the controversial deer-management program.
The Game Commission's goal has been to reduce the white-tailed deer population to ensure the herd is healthy, that the forest habitat can sustain wildlife and that the run-ins between humans and deer would diminish.
But some hunters argue the Game Commission has gone too far in reducing the herd, especially in the northern tier of the state.
Stephen Mohr, president of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, said he's pleased the House approved the audit, which his organization pushed for. He questions how the Game Commission can determine how many tags should be sold if the management of the herd isn't based on numbers.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources hired a company several years ago to use video cameras and infrared equipment to help take a census of the deer during a flyover.
In some places in the northcentral area of the state, it found zero deer per square mile, Mohr said.
Anything below 15 deer per square mile is not considered a huntable population, he said.
The Game Commission welcomes the independent audit as long as it's done by a scientific group, spokesman Joe Kosack said.
If the study validates the Game Commission's program, that's great, Kosack said. If there are changes to consider, "we'd be willing to listen to them," Kosack said.
He said things are constantly changing and, in looking at the history of deer management, the Game Commission cannot please everyone.
Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8876115
Dan Moul used to hunt near Sinnemahoning in northcentral part of the state, but he stopped going a few years ago.
"There were more deer down here than there were up there," said Moul, a Republican state House representative from Conewago Township.
Other hunters stopped going, too, and several businesses in the Cameron County town have shut down as a result.
"The white-tailed deer is what a lot of these towns survive on," Moul said.
Moul said he's talked to representatives from the Game Commission about how displeased constituents are, but "I may as well have been hitting my head on the wall."
The state House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution earlier this week that calls for an independent, out-of-state party to conduct a study on the controversial deer-management program.
The Game Commission's goal has been to reduce the white-tailed deer population to ensure the herd is healthy, that the forest habitat can sustain wildlife and that the run-ins between humans and deer would diminish.
But some hunters argue the Game Commission has gone too far in reducing the herd, especially in the northern tier of the state.
Stephen Mohr, president of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, said he's pleased the House approved the audit, which his organization pushed for. He questions how the Game Commission can determine how many tags should be sold if the management of the herd isn't based on numbers.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources hired a company several years ago to use video cameras and infrared equipment to help take a census of the deer during a flyover.
In some places in the northcentral area of the state, it found zero deer per square mile, Mohr said.
Anything below 15 deer per square mile is not considered a huntable population, he said.
The Game Commission welcomes the independent audit as long as it's done by a scientific group, spokesman Joe Kosack said.
If the study validates the Game Commission's program, that's great, Kosack said. If there are changes to consider, "we'd be willing to listen to them," Kosack said.
He said things are constantly changing and, in looking at the history of deer management, the Game Commission cannot please everyone.
Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8876115
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
