|
|||||
 | |||||
|
Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/3/06 |
|
|
In
the News Archive - Year:
April 14, 2006 UWGB plans deer hunt on campus Officials insist culling by archers will be done safely By Kelly McBride
An increasing number of deer on campus have wreaked havoc on vegetation, contributed to a number of car-deer crashes in the area and even raised concerns about a potential increased prevalence of Lyme disease, said Bob Howe, director of the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at UWGB.
"The campus essentially is providing a haven for those animals," Howe said, "especially in the winter."
Exact numbers are unavailable, but Howe estimates there are between 40 and 50 deer on campus. At minimum, he'd like to see that number cut in half.
UWGB is joining with a city of Green Bay/Brown County partnership that controls the deer population. Volunteer archers — who must meet several qualifications — cull the deer at specified locations and are allowed to keep one. The other deer are processed and donated to Paul's Pantry.
On-campus hunters will have to follow certain requirements, including remaining at least 100 yards from Cofrin Arboretum trails and shooting from stands at least 12 feet off the ground.
Officials are certain the campus will remain safe with the hunters present, said Dean Rodeheaver, assistant chancellor for planning and budget at UWGB.
"If we had any doubt, we wouldn't be doing it," he said. "We don't have concerns about safety."
There is no charge to UWGB for the program.
This year's inaugural hunt will take place from Saturday until April 30, but in subsequent years culling will take place from Feb. 6 through April 1.
UWGB's participation in the program has as much to do with controlling deer on campus as it does in the areas immediately outside of it, Rodeheaver said.
"It really has to do with what's responsible to our neighbors," Rodeheaver said.
The culling has become necessary because there is an absence of predators and there was no "major mortality factor" such as hunting on campus, Howe said.
No specific target number of deer has been set, but officials say they have no interest in entirely ridding campus of the animals. Still, something has to be done, Howe said.
"It's pretty obvious that they've become fearless," he said. "We would like to see them approach their natural densities."
| |
