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FROM Sarah Varney,
The
Mamaroneck Review
October 21, 2015
After a recent deer forum in Mamaroneck, where elected officials expressed the desire to see a hunting program implemented to combat the deer population, Westchester County officials said they wouldn’t authorize such an idea without a complete strategy in place.
According to one local mayor, Westchester County officials have reneged
on a February pledge to help Rye and Mamaroneck decrease the deer population
by taking advantage of the current bow-hunting season.
In a Sept. 30 letter Rye City Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican, received from
the county, Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett said the two
municipalities must first submit their deer management strategies in order
to gain help from the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation for either a cull or a bow-hunting operation. Because the
municipalities have not done so, Plunkett added that the county cannot move
ahead with any plan assisting Rye and Mamaroneck without an acceptable
strategy in place.
Needless to say, Sack wasn’t happy with the county’s response.
“‘Screw you. Do it yourself,’ that’s what they told us, in effect,” Sack
told the Review recently.
“They went back on their word.” Sack indicated that the City of Rye might
pursue a strategy employing a private company to cull the deer.
In February, the mayors sent a joint letter to John Baker, Westchester
County’s director of conservation, requesting permission to trigger a Deer
Management Assistance Plan using the DEC. Under this program, the DEC can
put together a team of certified bowhunters that will hunt deer during
certain hours on specific days. A recent count of area deer estimated 274
deer per quarter square mile, a number that is believed to be growing fast.
At a Sept. 25 deer forum in Mamaroneck, Sack expressed his frustration
with the county’s delay in addressing the issue. Bowhunting season runs from
Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.
But there’s more to it than simply requesting a deer intervention, according
to Peter Tartaglia, deputy commissioner of Westchester Parks, Recreation and
Conservation. Municipalities must convince neighboring cities and villages
to support the decision.
Tartaglia stressed that any strategy that includes hunting will not work
without regional partnerships in place. He added that within the city
limits, a DMAP proposal should include permission from area neighboring
county lands that would serve as hunting grounds.
The key is to create a regional partnership in which all parties would
participate in a hunt on the same days and times. If the program isn’t
created with the assistance of regional partners, a hunt won’t work because
the deer will simply cross into a safe parcel of land or even large yards.
Tartaglia said the county hopes to see a complete plan from the joint
Rye-Mamaroneck group by Oct. 15 but neither mayor is interested in working
on such a plan.
According to Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, the
village will head back to the drawing board.
“This [reply from the county] strengthens my opinion that we need to do
this on the local level. The main thing is not to stick our heads in the
sand,” he said. Rosenblum added that plans using sterilization and a hunting
program sponsored by private landowners would both be worth exploring
further.
Without DEC involvement, deer hunting could only take place on private
property with licensed hunters. Sack indicated that he would pursue a
private solution with landowners in Rye.
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