The Call of the Wild in West Orange

Despite the many protests against, the deer kill in South Mountain Reservation continues. Not only does it continue, it has been expanded to include other areas of Essex County, New Jersey.

I don't believe most of the statements about why the kill is necessary, but now I have even more reason to doubt their authenticity.

One argument that continues to be put forth is that the deer kill is necessary since the deer have no natural predator and will just die of starvation if not slaughtered outright.

Well, that has always been quite incredible to my comprehension. The deer produce more, not less, if they are killed en masse and the deer produce less, not more, if the food supply diminishes.

And, this morning, I saw something that challenges the "no natural predator" theory in the most dramatic way.

At 5 a.m. this morning, my husband and I were awakened by bellowing behind our townhouse. We flashed some lights and saw a downed large buck with 2 coyotes or wolves eating him alive. Our light and movement frightened them off into the snow filled woods.

The buck was badly wounded but still alive. We tried to call animal emergency and they said we should call the police. The West Orange police did come and finished off the buck and later the town came to haul the carcass away, leaving behind a huge patch of snow that looked like a multiple murder crime scene.


Thinking this would be an important piece of information for residents, I sent out emails and posted on the community board for this townhouse complex. It was noted in the responses that there are less deer in the woods here than have been here in the past and less wild turkeys as well. This is all anecdotal, but it certainly supports the theory that natural predators are alive and well in this area of suburban New Jersey.


This has been a rather horrific way to begin the day, and Christmas eve day to boot, but maybe there are a number of lessons to be learned with the death of this poor buck. One of them should certainly be that if culling of the herd is deemed essential, a non lethal method is not only preferable to the deer kill but to the natural kill as well.

Holding the Line on Tax Increases: A Most Serious Sport

One thing that has been somewhat inspiring to me as a West Orange resident is that the township council has been responsive to residents when the council members are told things in a clear, non threatening and demonstrable manner.

Though it took a long time to get there, the council eventually voted in a tree ordinance. It has its flaws, but it does have some protective mechanisms for the trees.

West Orange was the only council of those towns adjacent to the Reservation to vote down the deer "hunt" in South Orange. This, despite two of the members supporting Essex County Executive DiVincenzo's determination to continue to kill these deer in a most inhumane way and, as many people see it, for no reason at all.

Now, a group of West Orange residents are asking the Council to assure that everything will be done to hold taxes at their current levels. They are advocating for greater transparency in governance as well as a better informed governing body.

Apparently at the last Council meeting, members at the council dais were scoffing the notion that foreclosures have an impact on tax revenues. In particular, Councilman Anderton and Parisi were left looking somewhat foolish when their dismissive statements were corrected by a very knowledgeable resident concerning the impact of the great number of foreclosures, and how that is going to impact tax revenues.


This is all caught on the tape of the meeting, if you have not viewed it yet on TV.


For Comcast subscribers the Council meetings are aired on Channel 36, for FIOS subscribers I think, but I'm not sure, it's Channel 43 (it's in the 40's somewhere).

You need to stay tuned to the entire program, i.e., before and after the sports presentations.

Taking up the suggestion of the StarLedger as outlined in today's editorial, A Pledge for Elected Officials, these town council gadflies are asking that everyone come to the next WO council meeting and request that every member of the Council neither seek nor accept a raise in salary as one way to acknowledge the growing economic crisis in towns across America. The tax moratorium advocates are going to ask that each council member take this pledge in a public and recordable fashion. The next Council meeting is scheduled for January 6 at 6:30.

If you want to be part of this advocacy effort, please come to this meeting and let your concerns be known and voice be heard!

Killing Deer Does Not Necessarily Reduce the Poplulation

The debate continues to be a bitter one between the pro deer kill people and the anti deer kill people.

And it's no wonder.

One of the arguments that fuels both sides is the issue of population control.

The pro-hunt/pro-kill faction vehemently argues that the deer are over running South Mountain Reservation, destroying the plants and that the only way to keep this from happening is to gun down as many of them as possible.

The anti-hunt/anti-kill faction does not believe that the deer are the sole or even major factor in the destruction of the plant material. They also strongly believe that the kill that takes place actually stimulates the reproduction cycle. The more deer killed, the more deer born.

But facts are facts. There is no disputing them.

A particularly credible and logical response to the deer hunt/kill question has recently come to the forefront.

Wildlife biologist, A. T. Rutberg, expounds in his text, "The Science of Overabundance " that hunting often fails to control deer populations. The most visible weakness in the assertion that hunting is necessary to control deer populations is that it has largely failed to do so in the last two decades.

An analysis of white-tailed deer harvest trends in states east of the Rockies shows that the harvest more than doubled in the 20 years between 1973 and 1993 in 26 of 29 states surveyed.

Which brings us closer to home and closer to the facts.

The Great Swamp hunt in New Jersey could and should be a lesson learned for the County Executive and managers of the South Mountain Reservation.

Since 1974, managers of the Great Swamp National Refuge have been holding a 'management hunt' to control the refuge's white-tailed deer population. The results of the hunt are that the 1995 harvest was almost twice the 1974 harvest, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This data confirms the biological fact of Reproductive Rebound,a well documented population dynamic in deer and other mammals. Regarding deer, the number of fawns actually born is determined by a number of complex factors including nutrition and herd density. With competition for food reduced by a sudden drop in herd numbers (through hunting) younger fawns will breed and females will give birth to twins and triplets instead of single fawns.

And, in fact, after the brutal deer kill last year it was confirmed that more than half the does killed were pregnant with twins.

So, Essex County, are we listening and learning? Or are we making sure that these facts are neither exposed nor given consideration?

Hopefully, the populace will listen even if the County Executive and the South Mountain Reservation managers do not.

As John Adams, a brilliant thinker, once stated: Facts are stubborn things.

Obama Victory Spells CHANGE, We Hope

Last night was the culmination of an American phenomenon. An obscure Senator of color rising through the ranks, defeating the Democratic machine and winning a Presidential election by a virtual landslide.

The mere fact that this took place is, in and of itself, a startling change in American politics. While the Obama camp was able to raise an enormous amount of money for the campaign, the start was on a very modest budget.

So how did a rather junior Senator get so far so fast?

His oratory was certainly of great assistance. He is one of the best speakers this writer has ever witnessed, including his Presidential statement last night. It was unifying, on target, never boastful and beautifully presented.

But his vision for a better America was the propelling factor throughout his campaign.

We, as a country, have taken a tumble on all fronts domestically, as well as having fallen out of the world's favor. We need to be better. Better at communicating, better at analysing, better at strategizing and better at solving our own problems and helping to resolve global issues.

WE, as the President-Elect has said over and over, CAN DO IT~!

There are enormous issues for President Elect Obama to address. But I am hopeful that among his advisers and cabinet members, there will be those with particular environmental causes to promote.

While Obama's record with the Humane Society only won him a 60% score card, that is considerably better than the 40% score card achieved by Senator McCain.

The objective now, as I see it, is to raise his understanding, consciousness and score card performance. The spillover from the top, whether corporate or political, does make an enormous difference in the culture of an organization or a country.

The hope, as it relates to the deer, is that a vision will be created and set in motion that inhumane treatment of animals is not to be tolerated.

Another Vote that Counts

As people in Essex County prepare to cast an important vote for the next President of the country, they should also be looking more closely at their local races.

Obviously, who ever gets elected to the Presidency will have an enormous job ahead of them with all kinds of issues to address. The economy, jobs, cost of living, health care, the war in Iran are monumental in nature.

By now we all know who we think will best address these issues from our own particular perspective.

But there may be many people who do not take local elections quite so seriously.

Does it really matter to our lives who gets elected locally?

Well, yes it does.

How your taxes are spent, how your property is valued, and how your environment is protected are issues that will be decided on by your local politicians.

So the vote should not be thrown away or cast lightly.

One issue that is creating a great deal of conversation, consideration and communication in Essex County is the issue of the deer kill in South Mountain Reservation. The deer advocates have provided a brief synopsis of the candidates' stands on this kill.

The following people are running and are either supported or rejected by those opposed to the deer kill:

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg opposed the kill and bear hunt in NJ. He deserves support for his outspoken criticism of both.

Essex County Freeholder Carol Y. Clark cast the only vote to abstain on killing the deer, while Donald Payne and Blonnie Watson were absent on the vote.

Essex County Freeholder Linda Cavanaugh heads the list of a no vote for her efforts to support the deer kill. Joining Cavanaugh are Patricia Sebold, Samuel Gonzalez, Bilal Beasley and Ralph Caputo.

In Maplewood, Victor DeLuca voted against the deer kill. Fred Profeta worked towards getting the deer kill approved.

In Millburn, Jim Suell heavily sided with Essex County in wanting to kill the deer.

Your life may not depend on who you vote for locally. But other lives do hang in the balance. If you oppose this kill, vote your conscience and support those people who take the lives and humane treatment of animals seriously.

Other Things Deer Do In the Woods

The support for the deer kill last night in Millburn could lead one to believe that the deer are the forest ravagers the County of Essex would claim.

But in speaking with a good number of Millburn residents, it is their own back yard that they are more concerned with than the South Mountain Reservation.

So to save a few patches of lawn and some postage stamp gardens, the Millburn Township Council supported the County's plan to once again kill the Reservation deer and any poor stragglers who have the misfortune to be in that area at the time of the kill.

But I did encounter one Millburn resident who told me a story that was rather remarkable. She is against the kill, not at all convinced that the County's argument holds water, and saw for herself a benefit of deer inhabiting an unstable forested environment.

She visited Mount St. Helen's after the volcanic eruption in the 1980's and observed to her ranger guide that there were already shoots of greenery springing up every where. The guide told her that the elk and deer in the area were fertilizing the devastated landscape with their droppings, contributing nutrients for the plants.

Indeed, the deer and elk were credited with the reintroduction of vegetation by the U.S. Forest Service.

So deer do what bears do in the woods, even though we don't see them do it.

And perhaps, just perhaps, the deer in South Mountain Reservation are adding just as much to the environment as they are taking away.

But if the County has its way, we will not only lose the deer, we will lose what they naturally leave behind. And with that loss, we may even lose the potential for massive fertilization that might be the saving grace for reforestation of South Mountain.

The Amazon rain forest----"the lungs of the world" that could hold the medicinal formulas for all kinds of disease cures---may well disappear because of human ignorance before we can fully discover and tap its benefits.

So, too, the the County will decimate a natural population before it performs due diligence on what benefits may be yielded through their preservation rather than devastation.

Human ignorance knows no bounds.

A Bare forest or Bare Emperor?

Responding to a reader of this blog, Dennis Percher, The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of South Mountain Reservation, defended the deer kill as the only solution to maintaining a healthy forest.

In an email to this blog's reader, Percher cited Gail Keirn, Public Affairs Specialist, for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Keirn has indicated that makers of Gonacon have not yet submitted the registration package to the Environmental Protection Agency for the approval of GonaCon pending the completion of additional documents.

Kerin also indicated that "once that is done, it will be another '12 to 18 months' until approval.

She went on to say that by that point, the Reservation population can hopefully be brought down to a level where we want to stabilize the herd.

Percher concluded his own argument based on Keirn's statements that: "We cannot regenerate the forest without the deer population being under control. And without regeneration, the forest as we know it will continue to die."

All of this is circuitous logic. And, apparently, there are many who are buying into this circuitous argument and repeating the same party line. The Conservancy is even getting NJ Audubon to back their logic by stating that bird species are disappearing, again drawing the nebulous line back to defoliation, and, ultimately, back to the deer.

But let's back up.

If the main reason for the deer kill is the defoliation of South Mountain Reservation, then shouldn't we be absolutely certain that the deer are the main--- if not only---- reason for the defoliation?

According to another reader of this blog who has done extensive research, the defoliation is not the only or even major reason.

"Forests everywhere in New Jersey and other states are failing due to fragmentation, sprawl, the draining of wetlands, the clear-cutting of forests, pollution, invasive species, climate changes, and the acid rain that has been falling throughout the entire 20th century. In addition the soil in most areas was already acidic because the many rocks are acidic.

Decades of acid precipitation have removed alkalinity and lowered the pH of the forest soil. Liming is necessary to improve soils and grow new trees, particularly acid-sensitive species such as sugar maple and red oak. In addition, liming has been shown to increase the number and diversity of forest birds and wildflower species. Liming of areas may increase the ability of the soil to regenerate plant and tree life, but killing the deer will not.

Although deer are a part of the forest equation, the issues involving forest ecology and regeneration are complex with many contributing variables. Deer are constantly villainized, but forest soils are a far bigger problem than the deer. Light is also a limiting factor due to forest canopies."

Are the forests really bare because of the deer, or are all the supporters for the deer kill closing their eyes to the reality of forest defoliation? Or put another way, despite the greater number of people who saw the emperor finely attired, there was one (and only one) voice from the crowd who called it as it was. The emperor was bare. And so is the story of the deer killing the forest and reducing bird populations. Let's call this for what it is.