Game Commission 2009 Citizen Advisory Committee Reports Posted Online

The Game Commission has posted the 2009 Citizen Advisory Committee reports, including their recommendations for deer population changes, on the agency's website. Five CACs were conducted in 2009 in Wildlife Management Units 1A, 2E, 3A, 4A and 5B.

Citizen Advisory Committees were first employed in the Game Commission's deer management program in 2006, when a pilot committee - comprised of stakeholders with varying interests in deer - was used in WMU 4B to gather local input for a recommendation on the deer herd over a five-year period. Since then 15 CACs have been completed.

"Citizen Advisory Committees cultivate community outreach, program understanding and a local commitment by the agency to increase regional involvement in deer management decisions," explained Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. "They provide residents a chance to get involved and to see firsthand the diverse interests, concerns and priorities that influence deer management decisions. Most realize quickly this is a complex process that is anything but cut-and-dried."

This year, CACs were used to develop population management recommendations for WMU 1A, which includes areas of Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Lawrence, Butler and Beaver counties; WMU 2E, consisting of areas in Jefferson, Indiana, Clearfield and Cambria counties; WMU 3A, consisting of areas in McKean, Potter, Tioga and Bradford counties; WMU 4A, comprised of areas in Blair, Huntingdon, Bedford, Fulton and Franklin counties; and WMU 5B, which consists of areas in Adams, York, Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin, Berks and Cumberland counties.

When developing their recommendations, CACs consider deer population trend information in their respective WMUs, local deer health and forest habitat, as well as solicited public feedback. They conclude their work by making recommendations to increase, decrease or keep the deer herd at its current level. Biologists in the agency's Deer and Elk Section consider that input when proposing antlerless deer license allocations to the Board of Game Commissioners, which also receives the results of the CAC process.

The five-year recommendations varied from one committee to the next, illustrating both the differences in WMUs and member interactions and expectations. In WMU 1A, the committee recommended 30-40 percent increase. In WMU 2E, 3A and 4A, the committee recommended a 15-25, 10, and 15 percent population increase, respectively, if habitat could support such an increase.

In WMU 5B, the committee did not reach a consensus decision. Recommendations to increase deer populations when habitat allowed for such in WMUs 2E, 3A and 4A were adopted by the deer management staff in developing recommendations for the Board of Game Commissioners.

However, in WMU 1A, the agency's deer biologists could not to follow the CAC's recommendation, which was to increase the deer population by 30-40 percent. The primary reason for not following the recommendation was that forest habitat health in this unit is considered fair. In order for the deer biologists to recommend an increase in the deer population, forest habitat health must meet a specific, quantitative target.

If this measure improves - the deer and forest habitat health measures are checked annually - then agency staff will move to accommodate the CAC's desire to see the herd increase.

In WMU 5B, where no consensus was reached, recommendations ranged from a decrease of 20 percent to an increase of 5 percent. The agency's deer biologists recommended the deer population remain at its current level.

"We wish we could go along with the recommendations of every CAC," noted Jeannine Tardiff Fleegle, a biologist with the agency's Deer and Elk Section. "But, it's not that simple. Deer populations must be balanced with habitat to ensure healthy forests and wildlife populations, as well as deer herd health. Furthermore, deer numbers should not create undue human conflicts."

In 2010, CACs are scheduled to be held in three WMUs: WMU 2B, which consists of areas in Beaver, Butler, Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties; WMU 3D, which consists of areas in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike, Northampton, Lehigh, Monroe and Carbon counties; and WMU 5D, which consists of areas in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia counties.

Copies of the reports are available on the Game Commission's Citizen Advisory Committee webpage.