Council votes 3-2 for sharpshooting of deer Posted 9/21/01 by John Gessner Staff Writer Brushing aside a scaled-back plan to limit deer removal to archery hunting, the Burnsville City Council voted 3-2 Sept. 17 to use sharpshooting instead. In another departure from a plan proposed by city staff and the Parks and Natural Resources Commission, the council action phases in sharpshooting over two years. The archery plan called for a three-year phase-in, with only a small hunt this fall. ìI just think this needs to be fast-tracked a little bit,î said Council Member Liz Workman, who proposed the motion. Voting for it were Workman, Mayor Elizabeth Kautz and Council Member Deborah Moran. Voting against it were council members Charlie Crichton and Steve Cherney. The vote caps a controversy that started this past spring as parks officials, ordered by the council to study ways to manage Burnsvilleís deer population, began their work. The controversy boiled over in recent months as people opposed to killing deer marshalled forces. Natural Resources Director Terry Schultz said the deer population should be contained because of damage deer cause to parkland habitat that supports plants and birds, because of the 34 to 62 car-deer crashes that have occurred annually in Burnsville in the last six years, because of the 65 complaints city staffers have received this year about nuisance deer, and for the long-term health of the herd itself. Workmanís motion, which took parks and natural resource officials by surprise, was seconded by Moran. ìI think itís necessary,î Moran said. ìThe destruction of the understory (vegetation) really concerns me. I donít want to sacrifice one species for all the rest.î The vote broke a 2-2 deadlock dating back to June 18, when Moran was absent from a council vote on an earlier deer-removal plan. Cherney, who along with Crichton voted against the original plan, said last month he would support an archery hunt. Further research has convinced him sharpshooting is more humane, Cherney said Sept. 17. But he said nonlethal measures to stem deer problems should be used before a hunt is authorized. Such measures, which the council has already approved, include traffic signs in high-crash areas and educating homeowners on how to repel deer. ìI can vote ëyesí on all parts of (Workmanís motion) except the kill in the first year,î Cherney said. The action authorizes sharpshooting beginning this year and continuing through 2003, with the goal of containing deer to 25 per square mile of habitat. The cityís density goals range from 15 to 25 per square mile of habitat. Some parts of Burnsville have two to three times that many deer, Schultz said. The sharpshooting will begin in the east central, northeast and northwest ìmanagement unitsî of the city. These areas include Terrace Oaks Park, Wolk Park and the Minnesota River corridor. Sharpshooting will commence in the west central, southeast and southwest units next year. Archery hunting in public parks will be authorized only after density goals are met. The action includes provisions allowing archery hunting on commercial and private lands with special permission. The cityís deer herd is estimated to be 309 by December, about half of which would be removed under city density goals. Former Council Member Charlotte Shover, who represented the city on a Department of Natural Resources-sponsored deer task force a decade ago, told council members that sharpshooting was considered more humane than archery by task force members who strongly opposed killing deer. The council gave members of the anti- and pro-removal camps a final chance to speak. Elaine Anderson, 1804 W. 155th St., said the city has ignored deer deterrents such as the Scarecrow, a motion detector that shoots water at deer that enter yards, and reflectors to prevent car-deer crashes. She said the city lacks proof that deer are causing large-scale damage to vegetation. Paul Wood, 2820 Wind Cave Court, said deer are ìvoracious herbivoresî who eat five to 18 pounds of vegetation daily. Hunting is only part of the total solution, he said. Deer-removal opponents contend that contraception is a humane alternative to removal. City officials say the practice needs more testing but could be used in the future. The council unanimously approved a ban on feeding of deer. ìGenerally, the feeding of deer by residents exacerbates the problems associated with a deer herd that already exceeds the deer densities desired,î said a city staff report. ©Thisweek Newspapers