a million dollars over the
last several years. Mayor
Christopher
Taylor
was
the sole vote against the
cull when it was originally
passed in 2015. He said while
he remains opposed to the
killing, he does not dispute
the ecological impact of deer
overabundance.
“I recognize that there
are costs that are associated
with a deer population in an
urban area like Ann Arbor,”
Taylor said. “At the same
time, however, I believe that
the costs associated with the
cull exceed the benefits. The
costs are of course financial,
substantial, but I also believe
them to be values-driven. The
notion of shooting animals
in Ann Arbor’s parks and
natural areas degrades parks
and natural areas. It degrades
many residents’ sense of home
and I believe is inconsistent
with our community values.”
This is the final round of
the program adopted four
years ago in response to
complaints from residents,
who said there were too
many of the animals present
in the area, resulting in car
accidents
and
damage
to
landscaping. Between 2004
and 2015, the number of deer-
car collisions in Ann Arbor
nearly tripled, going from 31
to 88.
Dick was previously the
director of the Edwin S.
George Reserve, a wildlife
preserve
in
Livingston
County run by the University.
He said he observed how the
forests there benefited from
regular deer culls dating back
to the 1940s.
“If you look at the George
Reserve, if you look at the
understory
and
just
take
a walk through the forest,
you can see all kinds of
regeneration, like up to your
waist, of oaks and hickories
and
other
seedlings
or
hardwood and you just don’t
see that here in the Ann Arbor
parks,” Dick said. “There
can
be
some
occasional
regeneration,
saplings
and
things, but for the most part,
in many places in the city, it’s
just been way over browsed.
The forests just aren’t coming
back.”
City
Communications
Director Lisa Wondrash said
Ann Arbor was concerned
primarily
with
how
the
deer management program
helped to protect the local
ecosystem.
“Part of the problem is the
impact of deer browsing and
the impact to our natural
areas, so we’re talking about
the sustainability of plants
and animals and insects in our
natural areas and whether or
not the decrease in the deer
population has contributed to
that, that’s how we assess the
program itself and whether or
not we have to continue deer
culling,” Wondrash said.
Ann Arbor is not alone in
its efforts to keep its deer
population in check. To cope
with growing deer numbers,
other cities have turned to
lethal methods. Mt. Lebanon,
Pa., also contracted with
White Buffalo to pick off
deer using a combination
of
archers
and
gunmen.
Cincinnati residents credit
sharpshooters from the police
department
and
volunteer
bow hunters with helping to
“sharply reduce” the number
of deer in local parks.
In
Ann
Arbor,
the
program was met with legal
challenges from the outset.
When the first cull was set
to begin in 2016, a group of
residents sued, saying the
sharpshooters
would
turn
city into “killing fields” and
diminish
their
quality
of
life. A federal judge allowed
the city to proceed with the
program, and the case was
eventually dismissed. A
second lawsuit contested
the validity of the cull
permit
issued
by
the
Michigan Department of
Natural Resources. It, too,
was thrown out.
The Humane Society
of
Huron
Valley
has
been a vocal opponent
of the cull. In an email
interview with The Daily,
Tanya Hilgendorf, CEO
and president of HSHV,
disputed the claim that
there are too many deer in
Ann Arbor.
“Ann
Arbor’s
deer
cull is not just a waste
of taxpayer money; it is
a waste of energy and
time,” Hilgendorf wrote
in an email to The Daily.
“There
was
never
an
overpopulation,
and
there was never a public
health or safety threat
necessitating
closing
down a dozen or more
neighborhood
public
parks,
next
to
homes,
schools and bus stops, in
order to put sharpshooters
in them.”
Estimates
of
the
size
of
Ann
Arbor’s
deevvr
population
vary
due
to
methodological
difficulties
in getting an accurate count.
A 2017 count indicated a
50 percent increase in the
number of deer spotted from
the previous year, but White
Buffalo admitted in March
2018
it
had
significantly
overestimated the size of
the
local
population.
In
that report, White Buffalo
suggested the deer population
had grown in certain areas
while decreasing in others.
Bernie Banet, a member
of
Washtenaw
Citizens
for
Ecological
Balance,
a
group
that
supports
the
management program, said
it was essential for the city
to combat what he called an
overabundance of deer.
“Too many of them are
really destructive in many
ways to the vegetation, and
they threaten people, too,”
Banet said. “A few are nice to
have around, but it can quickly
get to be too much of a good
thing. We have some people
who are very concerned about
killing deer and feel very
protective toward them —
they feel toward the deer the
way they would toward their
own pet dogs and cats. That’s
understandable, but it’s not
helpful.”
Since
the
cull
kicked
off
earlier
this
month,
protestors
from
Friends
of Ann Arbor Wildlife in
Nature have demonstrated
near sharpshooter perches
around
the
city,
holding
signs and demanding an end
to what they see as the city’s
unethical
and
inefficient
attempts to reduce the size of
the deer population.
City Councilmember Jane
Lumm, I-Ward 2, introduced
a
resolution
Jan.
7
that
would have directed the city
attorney’s office to investigate
the protesters’ actions. Lumm
said the demonstrators were
purposefully interfering with
White Buffalo’s ability to
effectively hunt deer.
“They
have
actually
stopped and prohibited our
contractor
White
Buffalo
from
performing
their
culling contracted work on
properties that have been
identified for culling,” Lumm
2A — Friday, January 11, 2019
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QUOTE OF THE WE E K
“
This is important that Middle Eastern and North
African individuals, be it staff, faculty or students, all have
theopportunity to more accurately identify their own identity.
But it’s not the standard way of doing it. It means that it’s a
little bit more complicated, and right now it’s still embedded
within the white racial category, and we know that there’s a
lot of complications that come with that.”
Ethriam Brammer, assistant dean and DEI implementation lead of Rackham Graduate School