Bloomington City Council to debate plan to kill deer


After years of discussing the heavy deer population, city officials say they can’t waste any more time before taking action.


An ordinance that would allow professional sharpshooting at the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve will be considered by the Bloomington City Council during its meeting at 7:30 tonight at City Hall in the council chambers. There will not be a final vote tonight.

The legislation is being brought forward by council member Dave Rollo, who says the need to control the deer population at Griffy Lake is “very urgent” because the abundance of deer surrounding Griffy has been causing a reduction of white-footed mice and removing native plants and trees, significantly harming the biodiversity of the 1,200-acre woodland.

Using sharpshooting to reduce the number of deer was recommended by the Bloomington-Monroe County Deer Task Force in its report, which the council adopted in December 2012. The 11-member group, including Rollo, worked for two years on the 200-page report, which included lethal and nonlethal methods of culling the deer herd. Other recommendations to solve the urban deer problem within the city were also included in the report, but Rollo said he chose to act on this first because of the immediate need.

“In Griffy, there really currently is no means to cap or reduce the population,” Rollo said. “What’s happening there is an ecological catastrophe.”

The ordinance would amend city code to add another exception to allow the discharge of a firearm within city limits. This exception would apply to professional sharpshooters hired by the city’s Board of Park Commissioners and approved for the necessary permits from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. It does not allow the general public to discharge firearms around Griffy Lake.

Roll said the potential dangers have been considered, and he’s confident the method is safe and effective. Shooting likely will occur in late night or early morning hours to minimize the risk, and will take place at a distance from residences in the area. The ordinance requires it not occur within 100 yards of a home.

“This is serious. We will need proper security,” Rollo said. “But we’re talking about professionals who have done this many times before.”

It’s unknown when the sharpshooting would begin. It depends on when the professionals are hired and the right time of the season to do so, Rollo said.

Two of the questions Rollo said he has frequently heard when discussing the plan are whether the venison can be donated to a food bank and why contraceptives can’t be used as an alternative solution.

He said it’s undecided now whether the harvested deer could go to a food bank, but it’s something he’d like to see happen.

“I think it would be a wonderful thing if this high- quality protein could be used by people in need,” Rollo said. “Ideally, I would say that would be the preference.”

As for the contraceptive suggestion, Rollo said that has been researched and debated enough. The DNR won’t allow it, and even if it was an endorsed method, Rollo said the city doesn’t have time to experiment with it at Griffy Lake because it could take years to have an effect.

“Unfortunately, we have to keep revisiting that,” Rollo said. “They’re well- meaning people, and they don’t like to see deer killed, but we’ve been through that many, many times.”

He said the proposal has garnered mixed reviews, but several letters of support have been sent to the council, including from the Board of Park Commissioners, the city Parks and Recreation Department’s Environmental Resources Advisory Council, the Commission on Sustainability, Monroe County’s Identify and Reduce Invasive Species and nearly 90 scientists and professors with the department of biology at Indiana University.

“When people are presented with the facts and the data … people understand the need for this,” Rollo said.

Thanks brew . I have more to say (rant) about this later..

Sounds like DeNicola and White Buffalo will be at it again....what the heck happened to allowing bowhunters on certain properties ? I guess the vegan headed enviro nuts at the university with more pull than hunters....

Anthony is surely doing pretty well and will likely see his business continue to grow and grow. If you really want to mess with these people in Bloomington, find a few landowners that'll take trapped and transferred deer and suggest they trap them. We could suggest that Yaz, HH, Gilley, Bean, Parker and a few others go in and snare them and then we can tranquilize them and move then down the road to Hoosier National. We could advertise the proposal in the Bloomington paper.

Years ago, there was an experiment to determine how far a whitetail deer would have moved in order that they would not return to their place of capture. Turns out the minimum would be a move of at least 150 miles.

Here is a quote from last night's meeting...

She was obviously misinformed. I've peed in a mock scrape and had deer showing up within a half an hour.

Thus is the idiocy and stupidity that invade the non-deer hunting society...

Lol... welcome to what was my world.. more later

Interesting. I was asked to be on the sub team to figure out a plan.. I bowed out for obvious reasons.. for those that don't know griffey lake its fairly rural. I've hunted all a way around that place and more.lots more! Make it an urban zone and let bow hunters have at it. Sharp shooters.lol
You have to be kidding me!
My other recommendation is to trap them and release them on the court house lawn...

Ah tonight is the night!
The big vote to HIRE sharpshooters for Griffy lake!. Unbebelievable..

UPDATE: The Bloomington City Council approved amending city code to allow sharpshooters to thin the deer population at Griffy Lake Nature Preserve by a 6-2-1 vote about 1:15 a.m. Thursday.

The no votes came from council members Dorothy Granger and Steve Volan. Tim Mayer abstained. Voting yes were Dave Rollo, Andy Ruff, Darryl Neher, Chris Sturbaum, Marty Spechler and Susan Sandberg.


EARLIER:


One of the most frequently asked questions about shooting deer at Griffy Lake didn’t have a simple answer.


During the Bloomington City Council discussion Wednesday night on whether to allow sharpshooting of deer to reduce the population in the area and protect diversity in the ecosystem, several council members were curious about the number of deer in the nature preserve and how many need to be culled.


Indiana Department of Natural Resources deer biologist Chad Stewart didn’t have a number for them.


“The DNR doesn’t have a magic number, and I don’t know if there is a magic number that exists,” Stewart said.


The question has also been raised by opponents of the ordinance that would amend city code to add an exception to discharging a firearm within city limits. It would apply to professional sharpshooters who have been approved for the necessary permits from the DNR and hired by the city parks board. It does not allow the general public to discharge firearms around Griffy Lake.


Stewart said the DNR focuses on plant regeneration to determine whether enough deer have been culled or if the hunt has been successful.


“The state does not put much emphasis on total deer numbers,” Stewart said, mentioning it’s always an estimate. “As soon as you put a number on deer, it’s usually debated.”


City Parks and Recreation Department Director Mick Renneisen said his understanding is that the contractor would assess the area and provide an estimate for the number of deer that sharpshooters will take before any are killed.


Council member Darryl Neher asked council attorney Dan Sherman if the council had the ability to undo any legislation the body passes. Sherman confirmed the council has that power.


A vote was not taken before The Herald-Times’ deadline. At midnight, a proposal to delay the vote and extend the discussion to an additional meeting failed.


More than 20 members of the public spoke, and this week there were more comments opposing the deer cull and than in support of it. Several people called the plan a “massacre,” and a couple compared the situation to killing puppies if there was an overpopulation of dogs. At last week’s meeting, the comments were about evenly split.


Indiana University Director of Undergraduate Studies and Assistant Professor of Philosophy Sandra Shapshay, who sent a letter to the council arguing against the ordinance, said council members Andy Ruff and Dave Rollo claim Griffy Lake Nature Preserve is dying, and that’s why lethal methods are necessary.


“But how do the sponsors know this?” Shapshay asked. “The fact of the matter is, they don’t.”


There were also a few representatives from the Indiana University Biology Department who signed a letter of support for the legislation. Professor Heather Reynolds explained the effects that deer have on the forest ecosystem — with deer eating all the plants, other organisms that feed off those plants have no food source.


Also similar to last week’s meeting, Ruff tried to have experts answer anticipated questions and respond to accusations from opponents. One was in response to a letter sent by the Center for Wildlife Ethics, which argued the DNR is biased in its recommendations because it receives funding from hunting license sales.


“There’s nothing for us to gain or lose in this outcome,” Stewart said.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/bi...-deer-cull-actually-works?src=SOC&dom=fb
another View I just saw

It is very sad that the council went the way of the hired killers....Tony DeNicola would be so proud....

Griffey is perfect for the bow hunter. I know every square inch of that place. Dumb to "pay" somebody to shoot them..

BTW.. the meat. Where does that go?

Dumb is what they do best.
Let them waste their time n money. They deserve no less than to be proven as the fools they are

I'm fairly certain they are planning to donate the meat to the local pantries/shelters.

So who are these sharpshooters ? What are their qualifications ? How much are they paid?

Look up a guy named Anthony DeNicola and a company called White Buffalo. It'll give you some insight.

Its sooooo stupid. Glad I I don't live there anymore

What if they miss and god forbid hit a tree???

That's him... I was one of a dozen hunters that worked with him at a local power plant in 1996/97..... first bowhunter's came in and we held a limited deer reduction hunt, then he came in and netted/darted deer for one of his "studies" where he was trying an abortive concoction/implant on the Does. Also he was studying the effects of netting/darting the deer....he was in on the Sharpshooting at Dunes Acres during the height of the "deer wars" up here .....

You just can't fix stupid..

It gets worse.. brew can you post today's headline.. unreal!

Mayor Kruzan vetoes plan to shoot deer at Bloomington's Griffy Lake

City council will consider the legislation again Wednesday

For the first time in his 10-year tenure, Mayor Mark Kruzan vetoed legislation.


Kruzan shot down the ordinance that would allow sharpshooters to kill deer at Griffy Lake Nature Preserve. The Bloomington City Council passed the legislation 6-2-1 at its April 9 meeting.

The ordinance added an exception to discharging a firearm within city limits that applied to professional sharpshooters who have received the necessary permits from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and are hired by the city’s Board of Park Commissioners. It does not allow the general public to shoot firearms at Griffy Lake.

In a letter Kruzan sent to the city council, he said he believes excellent research was conducted to support the need to cull deer at Griffy Lake, but he can’t support the idea in good conscience. He noted that he was against the plan to kill deer at Indiana state parks when he served in the state Legislature, and said his feelings haven’t changed.

“I simply see the problem created by the killing of animals as outweighing the problem being caused to plants,” Kruzan said in the letter. “That admittedly oversimplified position is based more on emotion than reason, but emotion is a critical component in characterizing the nature of a community.”

Kruzan said his veto isn’t meant to be disrespectful toward the opinions of the council members.

“They feel deeply that the best thing for the community is the sharpshooting,” Kruzan said on Thursday. “That’s a valid position.”

Council member Dave Rollo, who authored the ordinance, argued the ecosystem surrounding the lake is being damaged by the overabundance of deer. The recommendation to allow sharpshooting was included in the report compiled by the Bloomington-Monroe County Deer Task Force, which spent two years studying the urban deer problem.

“(Kruzan) describes it as a matter of conscience, and I don’t dispute that,” Rollo said Thursday. “My conscience tells me something different.”

Council attorney Dan Sherman said a mayor can veto ordinances or resolutions within 10 days of the city clerk presenting it. The mayor can choose to take no action, which signifies a veto, or send it back to the council without a signature and a veto memo, which is what Kruzan did.

The last time a Bloomington mayor vetoed legislation was in 2001. Then-mayor John Fernandez vetoed an ordinance establishing the McDoel Gardens Conservation District. It was his only veto as mayor, and the council overturned it.

“I would have preferred to never had a veto,” Kruzan said. “It’s not something I ever looked forward to.”

He said there’s been legislation in the past that he didn’t agree with, but this is something he feels deeply about and couldn’t put his name on.

“A power a mayor does not have is a vote,” Kruzan said. “Only council members have votes.”

The ordinance is not dead yet — the council will consider it again Wednesday. It requires two-thirds majority — or six votes — to override the veto, which the council has if no one changes their vote.

“I think that we will have a vote that night, I expect,” Rollo said. “I don’t think it will be postponed.”

Sherman said the council has to take action or the veto will stand, and the legislation will be killed.

“This could just as easily be a 9-0 override,” Kruzan said. “Or a 9-0 sustaining of the veto.”

Sheesh !!

A letter to Mayor Kruzan from the Center For Wildlife Ethics!!!

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...5LmNvbXxob21lfGd4OjVjNTY0ZWI2MTI5OTA5NzY


....WTF...

and Why did I move?

I puked in my mouth a little bit when I read that whole thing... :rolleyes:

It is basically the same tripe that has been sent to every town/city that proposed to reduce deer numbers...Ive seen the same type of letters before....it was the same arguments that "Fawn"(Friends of Air, Nature, Water) used in trying to stop the urban program in Beverly Shores....I think wackos just pass it around....

Oh this getting rich.. the left wing wacos are now fighting with each other on this one! I heard a protest is planned! I gotta go watch this when I get a date! Popcorn for everyone!

Take pictures ..... and a bottle of skunk musk to dump on the ground where they will be stationed.....

Its a terrible thing when proven science is trumpet by emotions.. and that's the state of the world we live in.. i don't get it and I never will I guess!