Nathaniel Firethorn
Member
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1110840993123580.xml&storylist=jersey
- pdmoderatorAudubon Society endorses 'lethal control' of NJ deer
3/14/2005, 5:55 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
BERNARDSVILLE, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Audubon Society is endorsing the use of hunts, hired guns and other lethal measures to thin out the state's 200,000-strong white-tailed deer herd, saying population control measures must be stepped up in the interest of preserving the state's forests.
In a 17-page white paper entitled "Forest Health and Ecological Integrity: Stressors and Solutions," the Society said Monday "lethal control" is a legitimate option for a problem that has gone from gardening nuisance to ecological menace as New Jersey's record-high deer population continues to grow.
Besides vexing motorists and homeowners, foraging deer have helped kill off native New Jersey flora, opening the door to aggressive non-native species like Japanese barberry and multiflora rose and crowding out species that provide food for native wildlife, according to the Audubon Society's report.
With high birth rates, no natural predators in developed areas and the increasing use of ornamental shrubs by homeowners, deer populations will continue to grow, thwarting state efforts at control, according to the report, which called on the state to adopt deer-management policies that take wildlife, water quality and biodiversity conservation into account.
"We're neither pro-hunting nor anti-hunting, said Eric Stiles, vice president of conservation and stewardship for the New Jersey Audubon Society, which is not affiliated with the National Audubon Society.
"We recognize there's a fundamental threat and that threat needs to be addressed. We have a number of options that have been approved by the state, hunting is one of them and it's a legitimate tool," Stiles said Monday in an interview.
Possible population control measures run the gamut from killing — via hunts or hired sharpshooters — to fencing, birth control drugs and trapping and removal, the report said.
Stiles said the society wasn't out to make deer extinct in New Jersey.
"They're beautiful and they should be here. We're not saying they should be eliminated. But there is a point at which you can have too much of a good thing. And that's occurring with the white-tailed deer," he said.
New Jersey already supports a fencing program and allows farmers with crop damage to hunt outside of deer season, said the head of the state's wildlife agency. In areas with high deer density, the state has loosened hunting restrictions temporarily or brought in professional hunters.
In addition, it has established an Earn a Buck program in some wildlife management zones that requires hunters to shoot an anterless deer before they can shoot a buck.
"We're happy the Audubon Society has come out and endorsed most of our programs," said Larry Herrighty, chief of the state Department of Environmental Protection's bureau of wildlife management. "A lot of these private organizations have had their minds closed to deer hunting. But they realize that if you want to manage other species, you have to manage deer as well.
