05-06-2006, 03:53 PM
Park system's talk of another deer hunt disregards facts
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/4/06
BY DORIS LIN
The Monmouth County Park System is once again considering a deer hunt in our county parks. This hunt is wrong on so many levels.
When these hunts were first proposed two years ago, park visitors were appalled to learn that hunters would be allowed to hunt in several of the parks at the same time that those parks would be open to the public. The playgrounds, boating pond and barbecue grills at Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold Township are surrounded by the hunt zone on three sides.
In other parks, dog walkers and joggers became angered when they were turned away from the parks because the parks were closed to everyone except hunters during the mornings of hunting season.
Park System officials admit that the deer are not biologically overpopulated. Why do they want to have a hunt?
In their Deer Management Background Report, they state that one of the objectives of a deer management program is "to maximize the recreational and economic benefits derived from this renewable natural resource." This hunt is a recreational hunt and the deer are merely a "renewable natural resource."
The Park System officials say they have listened to the comments of park neighbors and hunters, but are they listening to the residents of Monmouth County? A September 2004 Asbury Park Press poll showed that most people oppose the hunt.
Some park neighbors believe that hunting will resolve issues of car/deer collisions, Lyme disease, and deer eating their landscaping.
However, hunting increases car/deer collisions because hunters scare deer out of the woods. Deer hunting does not reduce Lyme disease, because the ticks' main host is mice, not deer. Pesticides such as Damminix that target the ticks directly have proven highly effective in reducing Lyme disease. Nor does hunting protect landscaping because deer-preferred plants will always attract deer. The effective methods of protecting landscaping are fencing, using deer repellents and choosing landscape plants that do not attract deer.
Two years ago, Park System officials presented deer population estimates to support their hunt proposal, but they have no updated estimates. Why? Because hunting does not reduce the deer population. After a hunt, there is more food per deer and the does will give birth to more twins and triplets. This is one reason our deer population has not gone down, despite the fact that more than 58,000 deer were killed by hunters in the state during the 2004-2005 hunting season.
The Park System claims that the hunt will protect "native vegetation." We don't see much native vegetation growing on the greens at the Howell Park Golf Course or the Charleston Springs Golf Course in Millstone, but the Park System opened up those golf courses to hunting.
Furthermore, the Park System is leasing land to farmers, including 100 acres at Thompson Park in Middletown, where the permitted crops are soybeans, field corn, sweet corn and grain (oats, wheat, barley, rye). Not only are these crop fields incongruous with maintaining the "native vegetation" of the parks, but by requiring the farmers to grow these deer-preferred crops, the Park System is feeding the deer and therefore increasing their reproductive rate.
The hunt is also absurd because the thousands of dollars being spent to administer the hunt could be used to install sprinklers in the park buildings.
To date, the Park System has not answered questions about the total costs of the hunt, but we do know that nearly $4,000 was spent just on signs to demarcate the hunting zone. The Park System must also pay for staff to administer hunting permits, tally hunter surveys, guard the park entrances and turn park visitors away from certain parks during hunting season.
In contrast, at the May 22 meeting where the Park System took public comments on the hunt, the Board of Recreation Commissioners discussed whether it can afford to install sprinkler systems in the park buildings. Its discussion included the Manasquan Reservoir Environmental Center, which does not have a sprinkler system, but attracts families and school groups that bring their children.
Considering the Thompson Park Visitor Center fire in February, shouldn't these sprinkler systems be a higher priority than administering a recreational deer hunt?
Hunting is a failed experiment and doesn't solve anything. The Board of Recreation Commissioners and the Monmouth County freeholders should reject any plan to allow hunting in our county parks.
.....når bare man har nok penge og krudt.....så går det ikke aldrig helt galt :-)
Favourite Quote: Vi løser ikke vore problemer ved at tænke på samme måde, som da vi skabte dem.....(Albert Einstein)
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/4/06
BY DORIS LIN
The Monmouth County Park System is once again considering a deer hunt in our county parks. This hunt is wrong on so many levels.
When these hunts were first proposed two years ago, park visitors were appalled to learn that hunters would be allowed to hunt in several of the parks at the same time that those parks would be open to the public. The playgrounds, boating pond and barbecue grills at Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold Township are surrounded by the hunt zone on three sides.
In other parks, dog walkers and joggers became angered when they were turned away from the parks because the parks were closed to everyone except hunters during the mornings of hunting season.
Park System officials admit that the deer are not biologically overpopulated. Why do they want to have a hunt?
In their Deer Management Background Report, they state that one of the objectives of a deer management program is "to maximize the recreational and economic benefits derived from this renewable natural resource." This hunt is a recreational hunt and the deer are merely a "renewable natural resource."
The Park System officials say they have listened to the comments of park neighbors and hunters, but are they listening to the residents of Monmouth County? A September 2004 Asbury Park Press poll showed that most people oppose the hunt.
Some park neighbors believe that hunting will resolve issues of car/deer collisions, Lyme disease, and deer eating their landscaping.
However, hunting increases car/deer collisions because hunters scare deer out of the woods. Deer hunting does not reduce Lyme disease, because the ticks' main host is mice, not deer. Pesticides such as Damminix that target the ticks directly have proven highly effective in reducing Lyme disease. Nor does hunting protect landscaping because deer-preferred plants will always attract deer. The effective methods of protecting landscaping are fencing, using deer repellents and choosing landscape plants that do not attract deer.
Two years ago, Park System officials presented deer population estimates to support their hunt proposal, but they have no updated estimates. Why? Because hunting does not reduce the deer population. After a hunt, there is more food per deer and the does will give birth to more twins and triplets. This is one reason our deer population has not gone down, despite the fact that more than 58,000 deer were killed by hunters in the state during the 2004-2005 hunting season.
The Park System claims that the hunt will protect "native vegetation." We don't see much native vegetation growing on the greens at the Howell Park Golf Course or the Charleston Springs Golf Course in Millstone, but the Park System opened up those golf courses to hunting.
Furthermore, the Park System is leasing land to farmers, including 100 acres at Thompson Park in Middletown, where the permitted crops are soybeans, field corn, sweet corn and grain (oats, wheat, barley, rye). Not only are these crop fields incongruous with maintaining the "native vegetation" of the parks, but by requiring the farmers to grow these deer-preferred crops, the Park System is feeding the deer and therefore increasing their reproductive rate.
The hunt is also absurd because the thousands of dollars being spent to administer the hunt could be used to install sprinklers in the park buildings.
To date, the Park System has not answered questions about the total costs of the hunt, but we do know that nearly $4,000 was spent just on signs to demarcate the hunting zone. The Park System must also pay for staff to administer hunting permits, tally hunter surveys, guard the park entrances and turn park visitors away from certain parks during hunting season.
In contrast, at the May 22 meeting where the Park System took public comments on the hunt, the Board of Recreation Commissioners discussed whether it can afford to install sprinkler systems in the park buildings. Its discussion included the Manasquan Reservoir Environmental Center, which does not have a sprinkler system, but attracts families and school groups that bring their children.
Considering the Thompson Park Visitor Center fire in February, shouldn't these sprinkler systems be a higher priority than administering a recreational deer hunt?
Hunting is a failed experiment and doesn't solve anything. The Board of Recreation Commissioners and the Monmouth County freeholders should reject any plan to allow hunting in our county parks.
.....når bare man har nok penge og krudt.....så går det ikke aldrig helt galt :-)
Favourite Quote: Vi løser ikke vore problemer ved at tænke på samme måde, som da vi skabte dem.....(Albert Einstein)
.....ualmindelig velinformeret i forhold til min alder ... :-)
Favourite Quote: En humlebi ved ikke, at den ikke kan flyve......Gå ud på terrassen og vift med armene...hvis du letter må du være uvidende ;-)
Favourite Quote: En humlebi ved ikke, at den ikke kan flyve......Gå ud på terrassen og vift med armene...hvis du letter må du være uvidende ;-)
