Deer Destroying Forests

[dgibson]

From http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/news/article/0,19912,1020157,00.html :

Deer Destroying Forests
By Will Snyder

Huge deer numbers are too much for food sources

January 2005

Who would ever have thought that hunters and the public would be able to say there are too many deer? Well, that’s the case. With a population that numbers somewhere between 25 and 30 million, researchers are worried that these whitetails might be doing irreversible damage to the nation’s forests.

In colonial times deer density was 10-15 per square mile. After a period of near extinction at the turn of the twentieth century, they now are packed in, nearly 35 of them per square mile. And it’s all the fault of people.

Reintroducing herds is only part of the problem. The real population boom came when farmers stopped farming and let their land turn wild. That has created the perfect habitat. Of course, dwindling numbers of hunters allows more deer to walk free at the close of each season.

With a lot more mouths to feed, deer are picking the forests bare. One wildlife professor estimates deer cause over $750 million in damage to the timber industry each year. But the big concern is deer voraciously eating new growth in forests. As older trees die off, there aren’t any saplings to take their place. Red oak, maple, white oak and ash are fine entrees for whitetail.

Whatever the solution ends up being—more hunting, sterilization, sharp shooters—this is a problem of our own making.

"The real population boom came when farmers stopped farming and let their land turn wild." Where does this guy live? The way this thing is written, you have to wonder what the author's sources are. Does anyone have any "picked bare" forests in your neck of the woods? They're certainly not around here.

 

[ELKCHSR]

I got my two that I had tags for this last year....

 

[Bambistew]

If by "wild" he means developed into a subdivision then yes. BTW, what little forest land we have left here is pretty much picked bare. The only thing they won't eat is the biars, and pine trees... very little undergrowth and no grass or very little...

 

[cjcj]

Depredation hunt....great for deer control.

 

[Erik in AK]

Gents,
Sounds like the writer is talking about the north-east. It wasn't to long ago when most of New England was farms. New York too. Pennsylvannia and Wisconsin have about a half-million too many deer according to their own F&G Dept's. The problem in thse states being public pressure to keep deer numbers high in spite of solid science that calls for culling the herd.

I know there has been much talk in recent years about deer becoming a "nuisance" species in Connecticut and in suburban Philadelphia.

The patchwork of wooded areas buffering development typical to the East makes hunting politically unviable. Bowhunters are too few and too inefficient (from a population control standpoint) and rifle hunters are too close to homes and businesses. Result: With no predation (except automobiles) and lots of edge habitat, deer populations go unchecked.

Maybe this is why the coyote is making a comeback east of the Blue Ridge?

 

[ELKCHSR]

Bring back the wolf and mountain lion, they will do a much better job on the deer...