Southold Town will host a forum on deer management Wednesday, Sept. 12.
The meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, will address the excessive deer population on the North Fork.
According to town environmental analyst Craig Jobes, the dramatic increase in the white-tailed deer population has resulted in widespread landscape damage and crop losses, as well as an increase in Lyme disease and vehicular collisions. READ
To get an estimate of just how many deer there are roaming from Laurel to Orient Point, Southold Town’s department of public works will be conducting a deer census next month and is calling on volunteers to pitch in.
The census will also help determine which areas in town need more deer-management efforts. READ
Southold Town saw record-high numbers in its deer management program in the 2017 regular hunting season.
This includes 292 deer reported harvested for the season — which runs from October until the end of January — over a previous five-year average of 246, said town environmental analyst Craig Jobes at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.
Southold Town will advertise again for a wildlife management position that has not been filled since the Town Board first backed its creation in August 2015.
Since September, the five volunteer members of Southold Town’s tick management committee have been independently researching the growing problem posed by tick-borne illnesses.
A variety of approaches have been attempted to address the health crisis caused by the North Fork’s growing deer population, including private hunters, federal sharpshooters and a part-time wildlife manager. READ
Too many and too much: that’s the message the North Fork Deer Management Alliance is hoping to spread to you through a direct mail brochure it hopes to send to every home in Southold Town. READ
Deer management and environmental advocates say they have the facts to show the North Fork’s deer population is a “health emergency,” causing more than $1 million in damage due to car accidents and sickening hundreds of residents thanks to tick-borne illnesses. READ
White-tailed deer grazing in Southold. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Nearly six months after a controversial deer cull kicked off on farms across the East End, the results are finally in. And to the group that led the effort, the statistics are disappointing. (more…)
BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO | Southold Town will host a deer forum Jan. 16.
Southold Town is hosting a public meeting next week to discuss the “Deer Project,” a new proposal by the Long Island Farm Bureau to cull deer herds throughout the East End.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture, The Deer Project is being funded by the Long Island Farm Bureau and local municipalities. At a recent educational forum, hosted by the Deer Management Committee, about 250 residents mostly agreed that culling the herd was an important step to immediately take.
During the Jan. 16 meeting, Martin Lowney, state director of USDA Wildlife Services of New York State, will discuss the scope of the proposed project and anticipated outcomes.
The forum begins at 6 p.m. at Southold Recreation Center, located at 970 Peconic Lane, Peconic.
