County Aims to Remove 60 Deer in Reservation

Essex County officials are targeting to remove 60 deer from South Mountain Reservation during their annual hunt scheduled for January.

County officials called a press conference Monday afternoon to unveil their plans for the annual deer hunt, which includes South Mountain Reservation. It comes on the eve of the Township Committee meeting when the township's deer culling activities will be discussed.

"There is no question we have the best program in the entire state," said Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. during Monday's press conference. He cited the health and safety of the county's residents as the reason for the hunt but also stated it was important to the reforestation efforts taking place in the reservation.

County officials said they are in maintenance mode with deer removal in the reservation, which is why they only need four afternoons for the hunt. Last year hunters removed 44 deer and 15 unborn deer from the reservation. The first year in 2008 hunters removed 213 deer and 147 unborn deer.

The hunt will take place in the reservation on four afternoons in January—Tuesdays, Jan. 18 and 25 and Thursdays, Jan. 20 and 27.

Dan Brenier, the county's deer management consultant, said they aim for 20 deer per square mile to maintain a healthy forest. A spotlight survey last April showed there were 27 per square mile in the reservation. Hunters are aiming to remove 60 deer to bring the number to an acceptable level, he said.

Dennis Percher, of the South Mountain Conservancy, said the 20 deer per square mile, though, are for a healthy forest. The reservation probably needs half that number in order to allow the reforestation activities to work best.

The conservancy has partnered with county officials to replant portions of the reservation's forest, which Percher is an absolute necessity for the health of the forest that has very little underbrush.

The program will not have results for quite some time, with Percher saying it could take decades for the regrowth to happen with the 50,000 plants the conservancy planted. Those plants will help reseed the entire forest over that time, he said.

Typically county officials come to the municipalities where the county property is located to receive permission for the hunt. But DiVincenzo said the law was changed, so county officials no longer need local approval for the hunt.

Millburn officials will be discussing deer culling on Tuesday night at the Township Committee meeting. No action is expected in order to allow residents enough time to comment on the plan. The next Maplewood Township Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 15; the agenda for the meeting is not yet available.

In October 2009, . Said DeLuca at that time, "It's worth a no vote so that there will be someone on the record saying we should look at alternatives," De Luca said.

The United Bow Hunters Association will again oversee the township hunt, but only shotguns would be allowed this year rather than the bows and arrows used last year, he said.

At the county press conference, DiVincenzo said the deer hunt works well with the deer reflector lights that have been installed on county roads, including Brookside Drive/Cherry Lane, John F. Kennedy Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn-Short Hills. The ones on Brookside Drive/Cherry Lane was installed first in 2009 with a $30,000 grant. A second grant of $75,000 allowed for the installation of 310 more on various county roads earlier this year.

The reflectors emit a noise that is supposed to keep deer from running onto the road. The noise is activated when a car's headlight sweeps across the device.

County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura said to date this year there have been 114 deer carcasses removed from county roadways. The peak year for deer carcasses removed from county roads was 363 in 2008, he said, and 284 were removed in 2009.

"We are doing well. It's a dangerous situation... and the car usually loses," he said of collisions with deer.

DiVincenzo said the number of incidents have decreased not because of the reflectors alone but also because of the deer culling activities. They need to be done together, he said.

The sheriff said his top priority during the hunt is the safety of residents and the hunters, and there have not been any incidents reported. People do not wander into the reservation during the hunt, and local law enforcement officials help make certain people stay out.