Carl Roe

Game Commsision Executive Director Carl Roe this week defended his agency’s approach to managing the state’s deer population using herd health, habitat condition and human-deer conflict indicators in his annual report to the House Game and Fisheries Committee.

Many legislators relayed complaints from hunters who said they hunted in the same areas for 25, 30 and 25 years and now find few or no deer during hunting season. The lack of deer, they said, is decouraging hunters and reducing the economic benefit of hunting to local communities.

“I even have body shops complaining because they don’t get as much business as they used to (from car-deer crashes),” said Rep. Surra (D-Elk).

“This is a serious concern for us and sportsmen,” said Roe. “We are listening and do care about our hunters and hunting traditions, but our primary concern remains with the mission-the conservation and responsible management of the wildlife resource for all Pennsylvanians.

"Allow me to read from a Pennsylvania Game News article: 'Certain parts of the range have been found to be supporting only comparatively few deer, but these circumstances are almost invariably found to have arisen where food conditions are least favorable and the range incapable of properly supporting even the occasional deer found therein.' When did this appear? September of 1938.

“We believe that our goals of a healthy herd, healthy habitat and a reduction in deer human conflict are sound public policy and, in the long term, will best serve wildlife conservation and the people of the Commonwealth,” said Roe. “As Legislators, you know from first hand experience that sound public policy is not always popular or easy to achieve.”

A 2005 study commissioned by Audubon PA, Managing White-tailed Deer in Forest Habitat From an Ecosystem Perspective, made this dramatic statement about the impact of deer on the Commonwealth’s forests, “(the) regeneration of most tree species does not occur unless the affected areas are fenced to exclude deer.”

Over time, high deer populations have greatly altered forest understories. The abundance of native wildflowers and other forest-floor plants has been greatly diminished, shrub species have been dramatically decreased or eliminated, and the variety of tree species has declined.

To the casual observer the woods still look green, but they are much altered. In place of the diverse, multi-storied vegetation that was the norm, there are just a few species, either not preferred by deer or resilient to repeated browsing. Once the few tolerant or resistant species spread, their shade makes it difficult for most other members of the native flora to regenerate, even if deer numbers are later reduced.

Consider these other facts from a House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee hearing on deer and wildlife damage in 2006—

· There is an estimated $90 million in crop loss and $73 million in damage to our forests every year by deer, according to the Department of Agriculture;

· Over $78 million in property damage occur in the over 39,000 deer/car collisions each year in Pennsylvania, not counting the deaths and injuries to the people involved. This is the highest of any state in the nation;

· The incidence of Lyme disease, a debilitating and sometimes fatal illness spread by deer ticks, has increased by over 9,000 percent between 1987 and 2004, according to the Department of Health; and

· State taxpayers lose $18 million a year in deferred and lost timber stumpage sales.

“Audubon Pennsylvania strongly supports recreational hunting and other means to bring overabundant deer populations under control,” said Audubon PA Executive Director Timothy Schaeffer. “Over-browsing by deer eliminates thousands of acres of habitat for song birds and other wildlife species and is the largest single threat to bird habitat in many parts of the Commonwealth. Nearly every one of Pennsylvania’s Important Bird Areas has experienced significant damage caused by deer.”

Roe also expressed concern about the financial health of the Game Commission.

“We have had only two license increases in over 20 years and are well past due for another increase. We are more than willing to look at other funding programs,” said Roe. “We have discussed a state version of the federal Pittman-Robertson Program, a percentage of the state's sales tax, and a cost-of-living indexed license increase. But, we have not waited for these things to happen and have taken the initiative for other funding sources. In conjunction with Game Commission Staff and Board Members and other volunteers, the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation was established in State College and is actively accepting donations that will, in the long term, build a private endowment for wildlife programs in the Commonwealth.”

A complete copy of Mr. Roe’s remarks is available online.

NewsClips: Research May Change Perceptions of Deer and Hunters

Editorial: Game Commission Rightly Seeks Sustainable Numbers

Deer Fight, Commission Prodded to Cut Doe Tags

Editorial: Bill Good First Step in Aiding Farmers Against Deer Herds

3/9/2007