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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/22/2011 ' s FFO(,~ ~O~d cOG'~ ~a JAMES C. McMAHON Town Hall, 53095 Main Road Chairman H Z u P.O. Box 1179 d Southold, New York 11971 Telephone (631) 765-1253 Ext.235'f~o apl,' Fax (631) 765-9015 Deer Management Committee TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MINUTES March 22, 2011 7:00 P.M. Southold Town Hall, Conference Room A meeting of the Deer Management Committee was held Wednesday, March 22, 2011 at the Town Hall, .Conference Room, Main Road in Southold. Present were: Scott Russell, Supervisor Jeff Standish, Chairperson Adam West, Member John Rumpler, Member Laura Klahre, Land Preservation Representative Alice Hussie, Guest Michelle Givens, DEC Representative Chip Hamilton, DEC Representative Nancy Foote, Committee Secretary Call to order Jeff Standish called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. Discussion Jeff Standish began the meeting by reviewing the final report for the 2010 Deer Management Program. He reviewed the 2010 goals that were met and the 2011 goals the committee intends to fulfill. Committee members discussed whether a year round Nuisance Permit is suitable for the Town of Southold similar to programs presently in place on Shelter Island and North Haven, both in effect from September - March. Jeff Standish believed that this extended program through March would be appropriate for the Town of .Southold. 1 Supervisor Russell believes the Town of Southold is nearly at a point of no return. He added "we are learning as we go". He would like to have a program in place that is user friendly with an integrated approach that will be successful in increasing the amount of deer harvested. The Town would like to meet some level of balance and keep the hunters interested. Discussion continued with possibility of paying hunters for each deer harvested and sharp shooter program but both will be too costly. Laura Klahre reported that the exploding deer population has had an effect on local ecology. The large amount of deer are moving through the woods and eating all the small seedling trees preventing forest regeneration. Optimally the Town would like to follow the population standard of 15-20 deer per square mile a figure BNL uses. Supervisor Russell believes this would be a manageable amount. Chip Hamilton will be emailing the permit application for the Nuisance Permit to Supervisor Russell. The Town will submit the application for the nuisance program along with maps of open properties to be hunted and then revisit a possible baiting program. DEC will contact Albany for the baiting program consideration. DEC recommends starting with a Nuisance program and only if this effort fails incorporate a baiting program. Jeff Standish said the program would be offered to certain hunters. Supervisor Russell offered opening up the program to hunters other than town residents if the program does not receive a strong response. Jeff Standish addressed the DEC with the suggestion of having a DEC check station here on the North Fork. The availability of the check station will allow the hunters to report harvested deer and receive additional tags. Michelle Given recommended someone from the Town (train 3 people, employee or resident) to be responsible •for tags and paperwork. Mr. Hamilton suggested a tag book where hunters sign tags in and out. He stressed the importance of getting the tags logged and the hunter's ID numbers. The DEC recommends giving out tags one at a time to prevent having to collect unused tags from hunters. As tags are used up, the Town will contact the DEC and more will be sent. The program could be streamlined on a computer for the tags, permits, and hunter IDs. It was also suggested to have the refrigerated truck longer than the three months the Town provided for the 2010 season or put the harvested deer to mulch during the extended hunting period. Nassau Point in Cutchogue was discussed. This area is secluded with no open Town space available for hunting. In addition Alice Hussie, a resident of the Bayview area of Southold reported that the area is overrun with deer. She has suffered from lyme disease 3 times and would like to see a more aggressive method of controlling the deer population. Supervisor Russell is trying to get homeowners to participate. Hunters can hunt deer outside 500 feet of a residence. Adding to the problem, homeowners, vineyards and farmers are putting up fences essentially fencing in the deer's food source forcing them onto the private properties to eat. Supervisor Russell believes that Nassau Point can't be addressed without a baiting program, the deer have just become too comfortable there. Ms. Hussie suggested exploring a contraceptive program, ie: salt lick. Ms. Givens stated the program has lowered the fawning rate on Fire Island but has done nothing to the adult population. Supervisor Russell reported that a sterilization program is costly and has health issue concerns. Ms. Givens stated it works for a small population but in Southold, the problem is our area is so transient. The health concerns with contraception and inoculation is contaminating the venison and the danger of domestic animals coming in contact with the chemical used in salt licks or rubbing posts. Ms. Givens informed the group that there is no NYS contraception that's approved at this time. Supervisor Russell added that there is no legal way of doing it and Mr. Hamilton believes that the technology is not there yet. It's not effective on the first !application. In a closed system with two years of treatment, there is still adult deer. 2 • Opening additional properties owned by Suffolk County and business was also discussed. Water Authority property is available but the Town has been unsuccessful in having SCWA agree to opening the space to hunting. Mr. Hamilton offered to step in and negotiate with SCWA on behalf of the Town. To help remedy the situation on the North Fork the committee would like to set up the check station with the help of Chip Hamilton. Jeff Standish would like to hand out more tags to encourage hunters to shoot more does. Set up a Nuisance permit program on Town properties to encourage more hunting Oct - March. The committee will canvas Deer Management participants to see how much interest there would be for this extended hunting season and possibly open the program to county residents for bow hunting with a lottery. The committee is disappointed with the fact that the DEC Wildlife division is short staffed and there is no biologist on staff for the LI region. The committee would like to reach out to local, county and state offices to hire a deer biologist for Long Island. The DEC reps concurred. The meeting was adjourned 8:20 PM. The next meeting was not scheduled at this time. Respectfully submitted, • Nancy Foote Deer Management Program Committee Secretary • 3