Ridgefield

DEER: Ridgefield hunt ends with tally of 25

By Jenny Cox, Ridgefield Press Staff Dec 22, 2006

The final count from the town's first deer hunt is 25 taken deer, most of which were does, said Deer Implementation Committee Chair Tom Belote.

The hunt ended Tuesday, Dec. 19.

This year was the first time the town had allowed hunting on town-owned open space, and the hunt was restricted to a test parcel, which was the Hemlock Hills preserve.

Although the deer committee had said this year was primarily a test year to demonstrate that the town could conduct a controlled hunt on open space, the season's results are more than satisfactory toward achieving the goal of herd reduction to 20 or less per square mile, Mr. Belote said.

He said the state's Department of Environmental Protection had estimated that the number of deer in this area exceeds 40 per square mile. The Hemlock Hills parcel is approximately half a square mile. By culling 25 deer from the parcel in the first year of this program, it is obvious that a significant reduction in the deer herd has been made, he said. Given that does frequently produce twins, the deer hunt's take should have a significant future benefit, he said.

Mr. Belote said that Wilton and Redding, which both have town-sponsored deer hunts, had not yet tallied their numbers of ?taken? deer.

As of Tuesday, Dec. 19, 80 deer had been taken in Redding, which allows hunting on approximately 1,000 acres of conservation land, he said. The Redding hunters use bows and arrows, and that season runs from September through January, he said.

Ridgefield hunters have used shotguns and muzzleloaders, and the hunt was limited to that season, which runs from Nov. 15 through Dec. 19.

Mr. Belote said his committee will now digest the results of Ridgefield?s first hunt. ?We will spend the next couple of months reviewing the methodology used this year and will determine if and how the hunt can be made more effective,? he said. ?We will also be analyzing what other parcels including Hemlock Hills should be presented to the Conservation Commission and the Board of Selectmen as controlled hunt sites.?

http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi?keyword=deer&search=Search&archive=&day2=&template=search%2Fsearch_results.html&perpage=5&cat=&mon=&day=&mon2=&year2=&search_subcats=1&year=&start=6

DEER: Total reaches 24 as Ridgefield open space hunt nears end
By Je By Je Dec 14, 2006

The tally of deer ?taken? in the town?s first hunt is up to 24.

Deer implementation Committee Chair Tom Belote said the hunt was interrupted on Monday, Dec. 11, when trespassers appeared on the Hemlock Hills open space preserve where the hunt has been taking place since Nov. 15.

But the town?s hunters spotted the trespassers, and the hunt resumed later, he said.

?It shows that the hunters can spot people from a substantial distance,? he said.

The deer hunt has been hampered by unseasonably warm weather, but 24 is still a substantial number, given that the ?test parcel? for this year?s hunt is about half a square mile, he said.

When the deer taken on the abutting private lands are considered with the town's cull, the total reduction is quite substantial,? Mr. Belote said. ? It shows that coordinated hunting by the town and by private landowners is an effective way to deal with our whitetail deer over-population problem.

The hunt ends next week on Dec. 19. The town's hunt is only allowed on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on days when school is in session.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi

Planned deer hunt begins in Ridgefield

Hunters enter Hemlock Hill to cull population

By Susan Tuz The News-Times (Danbury)

RIDGEFIELD -- After months of debate, hunters entered the Hemlock Hill open space preserve for the first time Wednesday to cull the deer herd.

Eight hunters participated, arriving in the Ridgebury section of town after dawn and killing six deer by 5:30 p.m.

Those who organized the hunt called the first day a success.

"The guys hunting are very, very qualified," said Stefano Zandri, a hunter and a member of the town's Deer Management Implementation Committee -- the group that studied and debated the deer question for about a year.

"If you could take that number of deer out every day of the period we're talking about, it would be an ecological godsend," said Tom Belote, chairman of the deer committee.

However, this year's hunt is likely to have a minimal impact on Ridgefield's deer population -- at least initially.

"There won't be an unbelievable effect this first year of the controlled hunt," Zandri said. "If Ridgefield wants this to be a success, it's going to have to open up more property."

The Hemlock hunt

Hunters can be in Hemlock Hills hunting from sun-up until 4:30 p.m.
No hunting will take place on weekends, holidays, or on days when school is not in season.
Large orange signs are at the entrances to the preserve alerting people that the hunt is taking place.
Hunters have walkie-talkies to keep in touch with the check station.
A permit is needed to hunt.

Belote said this year's hunt concentrates more on showing Ridgefield residents that the hunt can be conducted safely and efficiently -- that's why hunters are downplaying numbers, and saying they don't have a set goal of numbers of deer to be taken.

Before the hunt, Zandri walked the preserve and inspected tree stands. Hunters must use the stands so that they fire their weapons at downward angles in order to avoid stray bullets. The town provides maps, clearly designating where the preserve ends and private property begins.

Belote was appointed by the state Department of Environmental Protection to run a "check station" at the entrance to the preserve. Belote, with Zandri's assistance, supervised the hunt Wednesday by limiting the number of hunters in the preserve at one time and keeping records of felled deer.

Yelona Pnev is a mother of two young children who lives near the Hemlock Hills preserve. She was glad to see the hunt taking place.

"The deer eat everything in our yard. A few days ago, I hit a deer with my car. They're everywhere," Pnev said. "In the summer time, there are a lot of ticks in my yard, which is a concern with the children."

Pnev noted that there is "no natural selection" process for culling deer herds anymore, making a controlled hunt a necessity.

The town's deer committee debated the hunt/not-to-hunt issue for quite some time. Residents, asked at random about Wednesday's hunt, were not on the same page.

Long-time resident Alex Karsanidi questioned whether all options had been explored to control the deer population.

"I don't like to see any animals unnecessarily killed," Karsanidi said. "I'm not sure that it has been established that the problem of deer overpopulation exists at the magnitude that makes the hunt necessary. But this is a sentimental reaction. Sometimes you have to look at things with a harsh eye."

Jacquie Hodges, a 14-year resident, questioned the necessity of the hunt but said she saw no better solution.

"I guess there's a reason for the hunt," Hodges said. "I'm not an advocate of hunting. I understand the overpopulation. I understand why it needs to be done. And I don't have another solution, so I can't criticize."

There is no question there are too many deer in Ridgefield, according to Howard Kilpatrick, a wildlife biologist with the state DEP.

Kilpatrick said that surveys of Fairfield Country's deer population show sites with as high as 80 deer per square mile and other sites with 40 deer per square mile.

Ridgefield falls in the 40 deer per-square-mile range. The DEP recommends seven to 10 deer per square mile for a healthy environment.

Still, some residents, such as, Gwen Thaxter could not condone the hunt. She was a member of the town's deer committee and opposed opening the preserve to hunters.

"It's a sad day for the community and the start of horror for the deer," Thaxter said Wednesday in a prepared statement. "It is critical that residents continue to tell the Board of Selectmen and Conservation Commissioners that we do not want this brutality on town land."

Thaxter said that the decision to hold the hunt was not based on "credible science-based research." And that only through such research can "humane solutions" be found to the "alleged deer problem."

DEP officials said Wednesday that there have been successful controlled hunts in many other areas in Fairfield County. The Devils Den Preserve, the Greenwich Audubon, the towns of Wilton and Darien all have hunts where there have been no reported injuries.

Some of those hunts attracted anti-hunting protesters. However, no protesters were seen in Ridgefield Wednesday.

The hunt continues until Dec. 19. It is not held on weekends or when children are out of school. Between seven and 12 hunters will be in the preserve on a given day, Zandri said.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1022536&category=Local&kword=deer&searchtype=AND

DEER: Ridgefield panel will help you find a hunter
By Jenny Cox By Jenny Cox By Jenny Cox By Jenny Cox

Looking for a nice guy in a camouflage vest to come shoot your deer?
The Deer Implementation Committee will help Ridgefield property owners find responsible licensed hunters and will also give advice about what parcels might be appropriate for hunting.
Deer Implementation Committee Chair Tom Belote said his committee was following the recommendations of the original study group on the town?s deer problem.
?The report of the deer committee to the Board of Selectmen included a recommendation that the deer management committee be pro-active in assisting landowners in determining whether a parcel needs deer management and what management practices should be considered, including hunting, and keeping a list of qualified hunters for the public to draw upon,? he said.
Mr. Belote said Ridgefielders wish to find a qualified deer hunter may write to him at town hall, 400 Main Street, or call him at 431-6430.
The bow and arrow hunting season for the Ridgefield area runs between Sept. 15 and Jan. 31, he said.

DEER: Applications available for Ridgefield's controlled hunt
Sep 6, 2006

Applications to participate in the controlled deer hunt to be held this fall are available to licensed hunters in the Town Clerk's Office in the Ridgefield Town Hall.

Interested hunters must present a current Connecticut hunting license to receive an application. Completed applications should be returned to the Town Clerk's office.

Prospective hunter applications will be reviewed by the Ridgefield Deer Management Implementation Committee. The committee intends to select a small group of qualified hunters for the town's initial controlled hunt which will begin in November.

Fall deer-reduction hunt on

The town hunt will be at Hemlock Hills, a 400-acre, bowl-contoured open space. The property will have signs both inside and on the borders to notify people that hunters may be on the land. The hunt at Hemlock Hills will be with muzzle loaders and shot guns with slugs, with hunters in blaze-orange vests with picture ID displayed on arm bands shooting down from tree stands.

Notices will be sent to abutting property-owners telling that the hunt will take place. Every precaution will be taken to keep hikers and walkers from utilizing Hemlock Hills during weekdays from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15 while the hunt is taking place, Tom Belote, Ridgefield game constable and chairman of the town's Deer Management Implementation Committee said.

Belote said, "It is unlikely that we will come before the town this year to request a bow hunting controlled hunt on town-owned land as we want no confusion between state allowed hunts and town controlled hunts." The Great Swamp, some 200 acres of state-owned open space between Farmingville Road and East Ridge, has been allowed as a site for bow hunting of deer for years. And by September, the 460-acre state park of Bennett's Pond [will] allow bow hunting, too. "People are still allowed to go in and hike on state properties where bow hunting is allowed."

RIDGEFIELD Jun 21, 2006 By Matt Dalen
Officials set plans and site for fall deer-reduction hunt
By Matt Dalen

The road towards official deer hunting in Ridgefield just got one step shorter.

On Monday night, the Ridgefield Conservation Commission approved the Deer Management Committee?s plan to provide for a preliminary cull of deer on town property this year, probably beginning this September.

The Deer Management Committee?s plan calls for 15 hunters to be chosen from the pool of applicants to participate in the hunt.
Hunters must pass a rigorous background check by both the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Ridgefield Police, and will be required to receive proficiency certification from both the Department of Environmental Protection and a certified firearms or bow instructor. Any hunters not selected will be considered alternates.

The rules are designed to minimize the danger to residents and hunters alike. All hunting will be from tree stands, so that the hunters are shooting downward, and the only weapons allowed are bows, shotguns, and black powder muskets.

Unlike the Wilton deer hunt, the Ridgefield hunt will not allow rifles. Said Deer Management Committee chairman Tom Belote, ?The trajectory of the shotgun is substantially shorter than the rifle. We want hunters to take the deer from close in, so there won?t be ridgeline shots that will carry a mile.?

While both Pine Mountain and Hemlock Hills were considered as possible locations for the hunt, the preferred location is Hemlock Hills. At 400 acres, it is large enough to contain a hunt, and according to Mr. Belote, ?It has large, natural land forms that make it appropriate.?

This will be the first time that any deer hunting has been allowed on town-owned property since the 1970s. The ordinance banning deer hunting on town-owned land was amended at a town meeting on May 31. More than 700 people voted by a wide margin to allow the hunt.
This first year will be a pilot program, according to Mr. Belote. ?This year, we?re not concerned with numbers ? we want to build public confidence,? he said.

All hunters will be given tags to hunt three deer to start, two doe tags and one buck tag. For each doe they kill, they will receive an additional doe tag, and for each two doe they kill, they will receive an additional buck tag.

Hunters will be required to sign in and out with the Ridgefield police when they hunt, and to log all kills and wounded animals.
Hunters will be allowed to hunt only on weekdays, to lower the odds of children wandering into the hunt site. Hunting will be banned on weekends and school holidays, a policy which will be enforced strictly by Hunt Master Stefano Zandri, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Ridgefield police, who will be present at all hunts.

The hunting zone will be well marked with posters around the perimeter and at various points inside to warn off hikers, and all neighboring landowners will be notified by mail of the dates of the hunts. During the gun season, the area will be closed to all but official personnel and hunters.

The final step for the Deer Management Committee will be to go before the Board of Selectmen to get their approval. Although the agenda has not been set yet, the selectmen will probably be discussing the matter at their next meeting, on June 28.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi

DEER VOTE: Packed town meeting okays deer hunt by wide margin
Ridgefield Press Jun 1, 2006

A packed town meeting voted by a wide margin Wednesday night to allow deer hunting on town open space land. More than 700 people attended the meeting.

Spilling out the doors, nearly three of four Ridgefielders at Wednesday night?s town meeting voted to allow deer hunting on town open space land in controlled hunts.

The tally was 531 (73%) "yes" to 194 (27%) "no" to alter the town open space ordinance to permitting hunting under conditions that will specified by the Deer Management Committee with the concurrence of the Conservation Commission and the approval of the Board of Selectmen.

?Obviously we?re very pleased with the margin of approval,? said Deer Management Committee Chairman Tom Belote. ?The next thing is to present the proposed rules for the hunt.?

?I think it?s over. It wasn?t even close,? Save the Deer Chairman Barry Corn said after the results were announced.

There was no debate, and the voting was by paper ballot.

The crowd of over 700 waiting to vote exceeded the capacity of the auditorium, filled the lobby and went spilled out the front doors of Veterans Park School. http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi

DEER: Voters will decide tonight whether to allow open space hunts
Ridgefield Press May 31, 2006

After scores of meetings, the question of whether to allow a deer hunt on town property will go to the voters tonight, Wednesday, May 31.

All Ridgefield voters and property owners may cast their votes on whether to amend the town?s open space ordinance to allow hunting on select parcels. The vote will be at a town meeting, to be held at 8 p.m. in the Veterans Park auditorium.

Town Clerk Barbara Serfilippi said the town?s voting registrars would be on hand to register people and verify that they are Ridgefielders. She said she expected the vote to be held as a show of hands, but ?we are going to be prepared, if we need to do a paper ballot.?

Heated debate

An organized deer hunt in Ridgefield has excited passionate supporters and equally passionate opponents. Hunt supporters say that skyrocketing Lyme disease rates, the highest vehicular-deer accident rate in the state and a devastated ecology mandate that something must be done about Ridgefield?s deer problem ? and the only effective thing to do is to ?cull the herd? by hunting.

Opponents say that deer hunting is cruel, that bow and arrow hunting verges on the barbaric, and that hunting deer is not an effective way to reduce Lyme disease, which is carried by ticks that feed on a variety of mammals besides deer.

The deer debate has stretched on for years, but it has become increasingly voluble as the date for the vote has approached. Deer Implementation Committee Chair Tom Belote was recently asked to cancel a speaking engagement at a panel held by the town?s Lyme Disease Prevention Task Force after hunting opponent Barry Corn threatened a lawsuit if he were not given equal time to express his views.

Town boards support hunt

The Board of Selectmen appointed a deer committee in September 2004 to study the question of deer overpopulation in Ridgefield. The 19-member committee concluded its meetings with a report in June 2005, which recommended deer hunting on town property.

Only one member voted against the proposed deer hunt. Gwen Thaxter, who has become an outspoken opponent of a hunt, submitted a report to the Board of Selectmen after the deer committee presented its report, outlining why she disagreed with the committee?s findings.

Since then, the Board of Selectmen has voted to approve the change in the town?s ordinances that would allow a deer hunt on town property. The selectmen voted 4-1 in favor of the change, with Selectwoman Barbara Manners being the only opponent.

The selectmen also voted to appoint a ?deer management implementation committee? to follow up on the recommendations in the original deer committee?s report.

The Conservation Commission studied the issue and also voted to endorse a hunt on town-owned property and select land under its jurisdiction.

And this week both the Ridgefield Open Space Association and the Lyme Disease Prevention Task Force have formally endorsed the proposal to allow hunting on town property.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said last week that he hoped Ridgefielders would come out tonight and vote on the deer hunt question.

?The town meeting is being held for the residents of Ridgefield to come and vote either in favor or against a modification to our current open space ordinance to allow hunting,? he said.

Mr. Marconi said he felt both sides had taken advantage of the opportunities to make their positions known.

?I think it?s been pretty well talked about,? he said.

Feb 10, 2006
DEER: Why Conservation Commission favors hunts on some of its land

The Conservation Commission issued a statement this week, explaining why it favors controlled hunts on certain open space tracts. The statement follows:

? ? ?

We, the Ridgefield Conservation Commission, are charged with protecting the land, which means attending to that which harms it: poor wetland regulations, poor sewer management, overbuilding when it leads to environmental degradation, and deer. Unfortunately, deer are causing extreme damage to the environment here in Ridgefield.

To see this, one need only look into the woods. There is almost nothing growing on the ground (with the exception of invasive, non-native plants) because it has been eaten by deer. Most wildflowers, ferns, bushes, oak and hickory seedlings are gone.

We do not enjoy the prospect of killing deer, but do not see any other solution at present. All the responsible conservation organizations that have addressed the problem have come to the same conclusion. These include Connecticut Audubon and The Nature Conservancy. We also know that hunting is not a guaranteed solution because of the size of the deer herd, but is certainly more effective than doing nothing.

The Conservation Commission will have approval authority over the plans for hunting. Hunting that will be allowed will be specifically to reduce the deer population, not sport hunting. It will be limited to hunting by qualified hunters on designated properties, not on all open space. It will be limited to certain days of the season.

We know that some people will always be against hunting because they are against killing of deer. Some say nature will take care of the problem.

We human beings severely disturbed nature?s checks and balances long ago by eliminating deer?s predators and changing their environment in ways that encourage their presence by fragmenting forests and introducing small green spaces (lawns around houses) full of food (ornamental plants and flowers). We need to help nature restore balance in many ways; controlling future development so that less fragmentation occurs, stopping the use of pesticides to spare killing of insects and polluting of groundwater, solving the problem of greenhouse gases to control global warming.

Trying to return deer to their proper number on the land is consistent with these other efforts.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi

Feb 10, 2006
DEER: Change to allow open space hunts will be discussed
By Jenny Blum By Jenny Blum

The proposed ordinance change to allow a deer hunt on some town property will move back to the Board of Selectmen next week. If the selectmen approve the change, they will set dates for a public hearing and then a town meeting for the voters to decide.

The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to discuss the proposal at its meeting Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the town hall large conference room.

The change has already been endorsed by the Conservation Commission.
Deer Implementation Committee Chair Tom Belote said it was important that Ridgefielders realize the proposed hunt will be limited.

?In the first year it will only be one test parcel that the Conservation Commission and the deer committee will investigate it for suitability of deer reduction and for the amount of damage that the property is sustaining because of deer overbrowsing,? he said. ?This is not going to be a town-wide program that will preclude recreational use of open-space lands.?

He said, ?It?s important to have the first year limited to one parcel so that the townspeople can see that it?s a safe program and that it?s not infringing on alternative uses of open space such as hiking. It will not be an every day hunt. We don?t want to have it on the weekends.?

Organized opposition

But Barry Corn ?an outspoken opponent of the proposed deer hunt ? said he is concerned that the wording for the proposed ordinance change needs to be tightened.

In particular, he said he thought the ordinance should limit the hunt to specific times and places.
?I don?t want all of our public lands to be out of bounds to all Ridgefielders throughout the hunting season while these yahoos go out there to hunt,? he said.

In a Jan. 26 e-mail to the selectmen, Mr. Corn wrote, ?as drafted, the ordinance is much too general and vague and arguably does not give you the control or the responsibility you should have and I assume want.... If you determine that we must have deer hunting on our open space land, you should control and be responsible for how it is conducted. That means not merely delegating authority for hunting in general, but requiring the entity to report to you the times, places and methods of each hunt, and how the public is to be notified and otherwise protected. Less than that would be an abdication of your responsibility to the people.?

In an interview this week, Mr. Corn said he was opposed to deer hunting on town property, and he said he was planning to mobilize other deer hunting opponents to ?get out the vote? against the hunt if and when it goes to a town meeting.

But he also said he recognized that the selectmen were likely to approve sending the proposed hunt to the voters. He said he had suggested that if there must be a hunt, that the selectmen should ?limit the hunt to hunting by certified expert marksmen and by firearms only to eliminate bows and arrows, which I consider one of the most inhumane methods of hunting.?

?Controlled? hunt

Mr. Belote said Mr. Corn?s fears were unfounded. ?Although plans for a controlled hunt are still being discussed and drafted, townspeople can be assured that any hunt in Ridgefield will follow the same type of supervised hunt that Pat Sesto?s Wilton group has successfully managed for a number of years,? he said, referring to Wilton?s director of environmental affairs. ?The primary emphasis will be on safety, and any approved hunt will be conducted with as little inconvenience to the public as possible,? he said.

?Generally, the town can expect a plan that would involve a small group of experienced hunters from our town and the immediate area who have a reputation for expertise as well as ethical behavior,? he said. ?Hunters would be required to hunt from designated tree stands and would be shooting down toward the ground... Townspeople, especially those on bordering lands, would receive advance notice of the schedule for controlled hunts. This is simply not a program to open our town lands to typical recreational sports hunting.?

Mr. Belote pointed out that because this year?s hunting season is almost over, a controlled hunt would not take place until next fall.

He said the 19-member deer committee appointed by the selectmen to study Ridgefield?s deer problem had concluded that hunting the deer was necessary.

?Unfortunately there are no existing alternatives to herd reduction at the present time,? he said. ?There is not effective or approved contraception available for the free-ranging deer in our open spaces, and even if there were there would still have to be an initial reduction in deer numbers in conjunction with any birth control program... Similarly, fencing is unrealistic for our open space lands and even on the residential level it only moves the problem from one neighbor?s door to another. Suggestions about new concepts in residential plantings and landscaping again do not address the open space issue.?

Ridgefield-DEER: Conservationists endorse plan for open space hunts
By Jenny Blum By Jenny Blum Jan 26, 2006

The Conservation Commission has approved wording for a change in the town?s open space ordinance, in order to allow deer hunting on town-owned open spaces. Currently, by town ordinance, hunting is prohibited on town open space.

At the commission?s Jan. 23 meeting, the conservationists agreed to approve wording that was drafted by Deer Management Committee Chair Tom Belote. ?The Board of Selectmen, after written referral and response from the Conservation Commission, may authorize the Deer Management Committee or other entity designated by the Board of Selectmen to initiate and supervise with Conservation Commission approval hunting of deer on open space lands owned by the town,? the proposed wording reads.

The change is necessary if the Deer Management Committee is to do its job of implementing the recommendation of last year?s Deer Committee to have an organized deer hunt, Mr. Belote said.
Conservation Commission member George Orlan said the questions his board had were related to the procedure for a hunt, not whether a hunt was necessary.

?We?re certainly in favor of using the open space for controlled deer hunting,? he said. ?We do feel the woods are being basically degraded by the deer. The fact is there are just too many of them. They?ve eaten up all the acorns. We don?t get oaks. Basically, the whole understory is under attack. ?The only thing we did debate for quite a while was the procedure ? how this would happen. We wanted to work out a good coordination with the Deer Management Committee.?

Dr. Ben Oko, commission chair, said that hunting will not necessarily be allowed on all open space, just certain tracts where it would be safest and most effective. Mr. Belote said the Conservation Commission?s approval is ?a great step forward.? The proposed ordinance change will be discussed by the Board of Selectmen at its meeting on Feb. 15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi

New Website "NO ARROWS OR BULLETS" http://web.archive.org/web/20070312024443/http://www.ct-nab.info/index.html

Sour Grapes galore. Highly critical of ALL, including Ridgefield BOS, DEP, and naturally hunters. Good read for the "other" side perspective. NO Viable Solution offered, except more study & emotion.

Deer Management Committee named to plan hunt

By Jenny Blum Oct 23, 2005

Ridgefield has moved a step closer to a controlled deer hunt, after the Board of Selectmen appointed a ?Deer Management Committee? last week.

The new committee comes after a previous deer committee met for nine months to study the deer overpopulation issue extensively.

That committee concluded that the town should allow deer hunting on ?appropriate? town-owned property.

After months of interviews for the new committee, the selectmen voted Oct. 19 to appoint five people:
?   Tom Belote, a co-chair of the first deer committee, which had 19 members;
?   Sid Kelley of the Land Conservancy of Ridgefield, who also served on the deer study committee;
?   Stefano Zandri, who is an active member of the Wilton controlled hunt program;
?   Major John Roche of the Police Department, who was also a member of the deer commitee;
?   Richard Douville, who said in his interview that he had first-hand knowledge of a very successful deer management program from his former hometown in New Jersey.

The selectmen did not appoint two other candidates: Gwen Thaxter, who had served on the deer study committee and how is opposed to deer hunting, and Tom Falconieri, who in many letters to Press, has favored deer hunting.

?Specific proposals?

The selectmen voted to approve a two-page charge for the committee, which summarized the findings of the first deer committee in large part. Those findings included that the town should allow controlled hunting and that that the deer management committee should oversee selecting and screening the hunters and establish rules for hunts.

Other recommendations were that the management committee should collect data on deer impacts and population densities and trends, that the town should conduct an aerial survey to help locate deer ?hot spots,? that the committee work with the town?s Lyme Disease task force to help educate Ridgefielders about how to control ticks and mice, that the committee should investigate devices to discourage deer from crossing highways and that the committee or another town agency should steward a drive awareness program and promote messages on how to landscape properties in ways less attractive to deer and other aspects of the deer problem.

The selectmen voted 4-1 to approve the charge and the ?slate,? which Selectman Di Masters proposed.

Selectman Barbara Manners, who is an outspoken opponent of an organized deer hunt, voted against both the charge and the slate.

?This committee is hereby charged with developing specific proposals and programs to implement the recommendations of the Ridgefield Deer Committee,? the charge states. ?It is further resolved that the Ridgefield Deer Management Committee shall bring each of its proposals or programs, as they become available, to the Board of Selectmen at which time the Board of Selectmen will review the same and vote to give the Ridgefield Deer Management Committee authority to effect said programs and proposals.?

Group fights plan to cull deer

Humane Society says town 'rushed to recommendations'

By Susan Tuz THE NEWS-TIMES 9/19/05

RIDGEFIELD ? The Humane Society of the United States is coming to the defense of the town's deer, which are the target of a hunting plan to cull the herd.

Laura Simons, director of the Urban Wildlife Division of the Humane Society, said last week that Ridgefield's Deer Committee "rushed to recommendations" when it decided the best way to control the growing local deer population is to hold a controlled hunt.

The Humane Society got involved when Gwen Thaxter, a member of the Ridgefield Deer Committee, wrote a minority report that strongly disagreed with the hunting recommendation.

Thaxter is scheduled to present her argument to the Board of Selectmen on Sept. 21. Thaxter will argue that hunting actually increases the deer population over the long term.

Simons supports that assessment.

"The dynamic is that when deer have more food they have more young, and after a hunting season, there is less competition for the food and more availability of food for the remaining deer," Simons said. "That precipitates population growth. Hunting is a quick fix but there is a rebound effect following it."

That argument won't get far, though, if the selectmen believe the alternate theory.

Howard Kilpatrick, wildlife biologist with the Department of Environmental Protection, said Simons' view is "an oversimplified description of what happens."

When a herd can't find enough food and deer start to starve to death, the local food base will grow and allow the herd to restock.

"But I doubt that Ridgefield's herd is in that situation," Kilpatrick said. "With a herd that is not nutritionally stressed, you will not see a higher or lower deer reproductive rate" following a hunt.

Kilpatrick also noted bow hunting, when conducted by skilled hunters, can be effective and does not leave "wounded, crippled deer," as Thaxter's report asserts.

In her talk with selectmen, Thaxter will advocate for the use of "non-lethal alternatives to deer management," including birth control. To answer the argument that deer bring more disease-carrying ticks to town, Thaxter will advocate an insecticide system.

Deer Committee co-chairman Tom Belote said Thaxter is not presenting new ideas.

"Much of the material in Ms. Thaxter's minority report is essentially the same as she presented to the committee in her earlier statement," Belote said. "Some of her arguments relating to non-lethal methodologies for deer management were incorporated in the committee's report."

The selectmen are putting together a Deer Management Implementation Committee that will look at issues, like insurance liability, involved with culling the herd.

http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=74345

Oh deer!

Experts weigh ways to keep does and bucks at bay

By Susan Tuz THE NEWS-TIMES (Danbury)

They are everywhere.

In the woods. In your garden. Lying mortally wounded by the side of the road.

To some people, deer are fuzzy and cute. To others, they are a huge nuisance.

Ridgefield is the first town in the region to really take on the deer overpopulation problem.

After much study, a town Deer Committee suggested that having human hunters thin the herd is the way to go. Predictably, the shoot-first strategy had its share of detractors.

So what are the other options? And even if hunting seems like a good idea, how do you deal with the bucks, does and fawns that are left?

Because other towns in the region may have to deal with the same issue, The News-Times asked wildlife experts to assess the merits of a range of ideas considered by Ridgefield's committee.

To discourage deer from entering roads, and to warn drivers of deer-crossing areas, the committee suggested installing reflectors or flashing lights along roadways.

By Laura Simon, Urban Wildlife Director, The Humane Society of the United States. Simon said reflectors are the way to go. The devices reflect the headlights of oncoming vehicles and convince the deer that a high fence borders the road. Simon said they are "one of the more innovative items on the market today" and have been successfully tested by highway departments in other states. She said flashing lights are a bad idea because "deer get used to them" and they are an expensive means of letting motorists know they are in a deer crossing area.

By Craig Stowers, Deer Program Coordinator, State of California. Stowers said flashing lights are used in parks out west with some success. They do not scare the deer away, but warn oncoming motorists that they are in a deer crossing area. Stowers also recommended keeping shoulders of roadways bare, removing vegetation that blocks drivers' views. "It's expensive," Stowers said. "You have to keep clearing. But it helps." He had not heard of the reflectors.

Even with a smaller deer population, ticks and the diseases they carry will continue to be a problem. The proposed solution: bait boxes and pesticides, eliminating leaf litter and piles of brush around yards, moving woodpiles and bird feeders away from houses.

By Kirby Stafford III, vice director, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Stafford said bait boxes are a new approach. Placed on the edges of yards, they contain a non-toxic bait with a wick that contains fripornyl, which kills ticks but not the mice and chipmunks attracted to the box. He likes the idea of using bait boxes, although it takes two years to notice a decline in the tick population. Stafford also said sprays are "very effective" when used around the "high risk" edge area of lawns. About 75 percent of Lyme disease cases are contracted around the home in residential landscape, he said.

By Darrel Covell, Wildlife Specialist, The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. Covell said reducing grassy areas around the edge of yards and only allowing children to play in mowed areas is a good way to reduce contact with ticks. He recommends localized spraying around the edge of yards. Widespread spraying will "cause more ecological damage than it does good."

The committee said residents should be educated about home landscaping that does not attract deer ? planting honeysuckle instead of roses, for instance. At the same time, attracting deer to open spaces away from humans might also reduce problems.

By Oswald Schmitz, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Schmitz said that homeowners need to change the way they think about how they landscape their yards. He said there might be some value in creating strategic locations within the town to draw deer to different areas and encourage them to stay there.

By Mark Ellingwood, Wildlife Biologist, State of New Hampshire Department of Fish & Game. Ellingwood said it is important to convince residents that if they want to keep the deer away, they can't plant all the kinds of flowers they want. As far as planting attractive eating areas in open space parcels, Ellingwood said the "benefits would be marginal. Deer will take advantage of any vegetation they find." He said the town would only increase the herd with that strategy.

By Craig Stowers, Deer Program Coordinator, The State of California.Stowers had "misgivings" about the proposal to provide food to the deer. Diseases spread through deer when they are grouped together, he said. It has been proved in California with feeding stations that people set up in the winter to feed deer.

Deer contraceptives are an unproved but developing field. It might be a way to manage the population of a reduced herd.

By Paul Curtis, Extension Wildlife Specialist, Cornell University.Curtis said there are deer contraceptives that are promising. One is called GonaCon, a vaccine that is 85 percent to 90 percent effective but now only exists in a two-shot version, meaning the same deer would have to be injected with GonaCon twice a season. A trial study of a single-shot version is going on now.

The other drug, SprayVac, is a single-shot vaccine, currently being studied in four sites on white tail deer in Canada.

"I think there will be a single-shot vaccine in three to five years, realistically," Curtis said.

By Mark Ellingwood, Wildlife Biologist, State of New Hampshire Fish & Game Department. Ellingwood said that with wild deer populations, management through contraceptives does not work. "Deer are long-lived, highly reproductive, and have to be treated in high numbers of deer for contraception to be effective," Ellingwood said. "With free-ranging herds like those found in Ridgefield, I would be skeptical about how effective it will ever be."

http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=73112

******

Positive news and a continuing trend in the state.

*****

Deer panel OKs hunt

Ridgefield committee sees no alternative

By Susan Tuz THE NEWS-TIMES [Bracketed/Underlined ours]

RIDGEFIELD ? The town's Deer Committee recommends hunting to cull the herd in a report it prepared after its final meeting.

The report calls for "controlled hunting of deer" on town-owned property and "proactively encourg(ing) hunting on private land." It also recommends forming a Deer Management Committee to oversee the hunting. [Presumably on town-owned land where they have authority]

Tom Belote, the Deer Committee co-chair, said Wednesday he does not believe the call to hunt will be controversial.

"I've been following letters in the local press, reading emails to the town Web site, and they are overwhelmingly in support of culling the herd," Belote said. "Residents I don't even know come up to me on the street and say they are happy the committee is doing something about the problem and that the deer numbers have to be culled. The general population in Ridgefield has shown support."

Some residents, however, cringe at the thought of town-sanctioned hunting in their community. [town-sanctioned hunting on town property - all other hunting is state sanctioned]

Frank and Julia D'Angelo had a deer with an arrow in it run across their property and die there last fall. They are "not happy at all" about the prospect of more deer being hunted. [Was this reported to DEP or is it anecdotal?]

"We've been in Ridgefield over 20 years and we don't know if there was hunting in this area before," Julia D'Angelo said. [Ridgefield has ALWAYS been hunted on private lands] "But some homeowners are asking people to come in and hunt on their property and we're not looking forward to the fall when it will all start up again. We've had an awful experience. It's all well and good to say 'appropriately conducted hunting' should be allowed, but that's not always what occurs." [In EVERY group there are violators, but the DEP arrest, incident & accident data speaks for itself - CT hunters are exceptionally proficient and safe.]

Glenn Cordelli, of Blue Ridge Road, shares their concerns. "I'm concerned about the safety of hunting on small parcels," he said. "I would like to know what liability the town would have if it is overseeing hunting on private lands should an accident occur." [The town has no authority to directly oversee hunting on private lands, only town owned lands. Owners of land available to the public for recreation not liable unless a fee is charged CGS Sec. 52-557g & h ( p. 30, CT Hunting & Trapping Guide)]

The decision to recommend hunting was not easy for several members of the committee.

"Many of us, like myself, are not hunters. I don't like having to kill the deer but when you look at the alternatives, you see there really are none that are available or cost effective," said Doug Barile, who represented the Lyme Disease Task Force on the Deer Committee. "Many of us reluctantly felt we didn't have other options. I think the problem with deer overpopulation is so obvious to most people that they are supportive of hunting to control it. A lot of circumstantial evidence is available on deer damage and there is a lot of research supporting the link between deer and Lyme disease."

Barile said while he went into the committee believing there was a problem and it had to be addressed, he was "totally hopeful that we could find a non-lethal solution. I was disappointed that we couldn't find that."

For Deer Committee member Don Damoth, hunting was the solution from the outset.

"If I can help just one child not have to go through the horrible consequences of contracting Lyme disease, it will be worth the lives of all the deer," said Damoth, who has suffered with Lyme disease for 15 years. "The hunts would have professional hunters, who know what they are doing. They would not hurt anybody or shoot through a house or do anything foolish like that."

Deer Committee member Andy Bodner, who has supported culling the herd, said Wednesday he went into the committee "with the feeling that Ridgefield had a serious deer problem" but was "open minded about what the effective manner was to deal with it."

Bodner said as speaker after speaker made his or her presentation, they concluded that there were too many deer and there was no short term way to reduce the population without hunting.

In the long term, committee members hope the FDA will approve a contraceptive that will aid in managing the deer herd.

The one dissenting vote to the 19-member Deer Committee's acceptance of the final report was by Gwen Thaxter. Thaxter has been outspoken that the committee was being steered toward recommending a hunt, something she opposes.

Thaxter said Wednesday her wish to present a minority report with alternatives to hunting was thwarted by her fellow committee members. She had not been prepared to present one at the last meeting, when Belote announced the committee's report would be presented to the selectmen Wednesday night. She said she would file a report "as soon as possible, and present accurate scientific evidence [ probably the continuously discounted animal rights data ] to evaluate the deer population and related issues in Ridgefield."

The Board of Selectmen accepted the report Wednesday night and will discuss it further at a July 20 meeting.

http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=72708