“The proposed memorializing resolution, which supports the
three-year pilot program for deer management offered by the Bureau of
Wildlife (BOW) of the DEC, should be scrutinized before committing the
county’s support for it. The program, as other BOW programs, furthers the
agenda of a tiny minority of its residents at a monstrous cost to the rest
of the residents of the county. Instead of acquiescing to continue to manage
wildlife for the benefit of hunters, we should demand that BOW manage
wildlife populations for biodiversity of the eco-system. This would insure a
healthy and robust eco-system instead of one that is precariously teetering
on the verge of collapse because of the undue emphasis on managing for an
abundance of a huntable species.
The memorializing resolution has built into it several
premises that should be scrutinized further before assenting to them.
The major flaw is the embedded assumption that wildlife
should be managed to accommodate the inclination of hunters rather than
farmers, orchard growers, the citizenry that enjoys non-consumptive
appreciation of wildlife, or – most importantly-- for the benefit of the
ecological system and the wildlife itself.
Hunters constitute less than 5% percent of the population
of the State of New York – yet BOW “manages” wildlife for their benefit with
total disregard for the demands of the other over 95% of the population.
Let’s look at some specifics in the proposed memorializing
resolution:
1) The most fundamental and basic flaw of the proposed
resolution is the first premise:
“WHEREAS, deer populations in New York State are currently
overabundant in many areas and hunting is the only effective tool for
controlling deer numbers on a landscape scale...”
The first point to observe is that is wildlife management
for the benefit of hunters, as practiced by BOW for the last 70 years, is
precisely what has gotten us into to this quandary. The policy of BOW has
been to consistently manage deer herds in New York State for maximum
sustainable yield. This management policy has bloated the population to its
present level where it has become socially unacceptable by many
stake-holders other than hunters.
Hunting has been totally ineffective as a population
control measure. After seventy years of management to accommodate hunters
the deer herds are at historically high levels. The scientific reasons for
the bloat of hunted herds vs. unhunted herds are detailed in an attached
paper as supporting evidence. However it should be sufficient to observe
that the deer populations are, in fact, at an all time high after being
managed to accommodate hunters. The results are undeniable.
The switch to “quality” management -- attempting to
temporarily reduce the population by stabilizing the gender ratio which has
been mismanaged to a totally unnatural scale – is not likely to succeed due
to the contiguity of deer herds. If there is a shortage of browse in one
area and an abundance of browse in an adjoining area, the deer would migrate
to the land of plenty just as surely as water would find its level in a
pond.
To allow BOW (Bureau of Wildlife of the NYS DEC) - the
source of the deer population problems - to attempt to accommodate a
different set of hunters by regional quality deer management is like
permitting the fox to guard the ducks after he ravaged the hen-house. In
other words, if the agency could not accomplish its alleged goal of deer
population reduction in 50 years, it’s time to get rid of them.
The fundamental question I would ask of all legislators in
the state is: Should we continue to support The Bureau of Wildlife that is
known to have destroyed the natural biodiversity of the wildlife of New York
State in order to accommodate hunters and only hunters? Should we allow them
to continue to employ various wildlife management schemes that continue to
serve the hunting community at the expense of everyone else?
2) The proposed memorializing resolution further expresses
the vain hope that change in management “could substantially increase deer
hunter participation and satisfaction.”
Hunting has decreased nationwide by about 35% since the
1980’s. The reason is probably to be found in the sociological change in the
society as a whole. The US population today is better educated, more
urbanized, and more progressive than it was in the 1980’s. Hunting has
commenced its relentless, march toward the dustbin of history where it will
reside alongside slavery and witch-buring, and other glad-to-see-go
practices. There is no change in wildlife management that will stem the
sociological forces at work here.
We ask the Ulster County Legislature to endorse management
for the benefit of all stakeholders in wildlife. These stakeholders include
farmers, hikers, birders, and the general population that enjoys the great
outdoors without feeling a perverse compulsion to destroy it – and most of
all the wildlife population and the ecological system itself. Let’s pass a
memorializing resolution that asks that BOW re-think its wildlife management
goals. Let’s endorse a mandate to manage for biodiversity – instead of for a
mono-crop of hunted species at an unacceptable cost to us all.”
