Task forces recommend increasing deer population

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July 31, 2012

Task forces recommend increasing deer population

Anonymous Staff report The Daily Star Tue Jul 31, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

Two deer citizen task forces have recommend increasing deer populations in Wildlife Management Units (WMU) 4P and 4W, which include portions of Delaware, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties, state Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Gene Kelly announced Monday in a media release.

"Both task forces did an excellent job and are to be commended for their efforts," Kelly said. "Members of the task forces had to weigh a number of competing interests and attempt to come up with fair compromises, balancing the viability of the region's deer population, the legitimate interests of the hunting community, the long-term health of wildlife habitat and the human use of the landscape."

The group WMU 4P, which includes portions of the towns of Walton, Hamden, Colchester, Andes, Bovina, Middletown, Stamford and Roxbury in Delaware County, and a small portion of southern Schoharie County, could not reach consensus, with some members wanting a 10 percent and some a 15 percent increase in the current population. A DEC biologist adopted a 10 percent increase.

The group WMU 4W, which includes portions of the towns of Walton, Colchester, Andes, Middletown, Tompkins and the entire town of Hancock in Delaware County, as well as small portions of western Ulster and Sullivan counties, recommended a 15 percent increase.

The DEC manages the deer population in a specific WMU primarily through the use of deer management permits.

They are distributed through an instant lottery system and are valid for taking antlerless deer only in a specific WMU. By controlling the number of permits issued, the DEC can control the number of female deer removed from the population by hunting. This, in turn, influences the number of females that remain to produce young in the following year.

The two citizen task forces received input from numerous citizens with an interest in local deer populations. Representation on the task forces included hunters, farmers, forest property owners, professional ecologists, resource-based businesses, law enforcement and motorists.

Citizen task forces were first formed in 1990 to actively involve the public in DEC decisions on deer population levels.