Letter to the Editor

The DNR opened up a couple of parks on the peninsula to deer hunting this year. Whitefish Dunes and Potawatomi State Parks.

The rationale was that an overpopulation of deer within the park boundaries had serious consequences for the regeneration of trees and native understory plants.

DNR foresters determined that there was no regeneration at all. Nada. The deer have been browsing everything in sight.

The hunt did a pretty good job of thinning the herd.

It also generated an angry letter that was published in the Door County Advocate.

Here it is:

What could those people have been thinking? Whoever made the decision to open up deer hunting in Potawatomi State Park in the manner it was, and say it was needed because of over-browsing by the deer, must rarely walk through those woods.

I've been walking through Potawatomi Park's woods five or six times a week for the last 14 years, 2 1/2 miles on the east end. The ground cover is, to a large extent, shaded by the tall tree canopy. This leads to slow, sparse or no growth.

Park deer have an abundance of acorns, pine cones, and select forbs and berries to feed on. It is an excellent habitat. Deer hunting there must have been like shooting fish in a barrel, no challenge at all.

Normally during deer season and just before, deer from outside the park will run into the park for sanctuary. The deer population in the park during deer season can easily triple and quadruple in size. Deer know when they are being hunted, and this leads to some temporary overpopulation.

Most of the park's regular deer were born and raised there. They were mainly doe with little fear of humans. They had select browsing areas for different times of day. These ground cover areas are not very large, because the park's real herds are actually quite small and food variety is in abundance.

A permanent overpopulation is not at all healthy because of the disease transfer potential and real over-browsing problems, and deer cannot just be trapped and transferred to another place; they will die if this is done.

Right now the wooded areas of the park have the appearance of a well-managed woods. It is not an overgrown tangled mess, and only certain areas are browsed. The original park plan called for thinning of the herd, not wholesale slaughter. It that little park herd needs to be thinned, there are selective ways of doing so.

Alternative deer management programs or at least a reasonable program should be considered. After all, park deer are a scenic and natural resource and one of the things that attract visitors.

Jim Brown
Gardner


Dear Mr. Brown...

Are you a forester or a biologist? What's that you say? You're not? I didn't think so either.

About that sparse growth and 'well-managed appearance'. The reason it looks so tidy and manicured to you is because nothing is there. The shade-loving trees like sugar maple and hemlock and even the trillium get eaten by the deer. Those poor plants never have a chance at getting a start in life.

A properly managed forest should have a vigorous understory. Sure, I know that this may be an affront to your delicate sensibilities - but I'm going to share a secret with you. Are you ready?

It's OK for a forest to look tangled and overgrown.

You see, lots of other of God's creatures need that cover to live and prosper. If the deer eat them out of house and home then certain bird, mammalian and reptile species shall all be gone along with the understory. I always say that a good tangle is a sure sign of a healthy forest.

I know all of this may sound complicated - but stuff needs to be growing and developing so that we will have young new trees ready to replace the older mature trees some day. Otherwise your grandchildren and great grandchildren will not have a forest.

You talk of alternate and reasonable management programs but offer nothing substantive as an alternative.

Let me help you out.

How about a proper balance? A balance of herbivory and deer.

One last thing. None of those deer are going to go to waste. They're going to be eaten by the hunters and their families or will go to the network of food pantries to feed other hungry families.

You need to chill dude.

Your pal,

Swamp Gas

PS - Deer don't eat pine cones.