RHINELANDER, WI (WSAU-WXPR) – The environmental group Green Fire would like to see a more science-based approach to deer management in Wisconsin.
It says poor deer management and a decline in hunting has led to higher density deer populations in parts of the state.
Don Waller is an author, plant ecologist, and conservation biologist. He says the environment and people are paying the cost of the denser populations. It leads to less plant diversity, increased Lyme disease, and more deer versus car crashes.
Waller says deer-car crashes cost drivers billions of dollars a year. “It’s been estimated that if we were actually able to meet post-hunt goal densities we could reduce those accident losses by $23 million a year, like that ag loss figure, this is a huge economic burden that are being borne by all the citizens of the state of Wisconsin to essentially support a high-deer density that only a minority of people are favoring.”
Green Fire makes several recommendations for deer management in its Opportunities Now report. It includes creating a long-term conservation plan and a fund to implement it.
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