Oneonta QoL Committee
Presents Deer Update
By TED MEBUST
ONEONTA
The City of Oneonta’s Common Council Quality of Life/Infrastructure Committee met to discuss, among other topics, the recommendations made by the Deer Management Task Force, a volunteer group of Oneonta residents commissioned to research solutions to deer overpopulation in the city, on January 30.
The issue of overpopulation, as the DMTF stated, has environmental and public health consequences, which they identified in an itemized report as: landscaping damage and economic impact; frequent deer-vehicular incidents; impacts on forest vegetation including erosion, stormwater runoff, and loss of forest understory and regeneration; increased deer/human/pet interaction; high tick population and increased tick-borne disease in humans and pets; and negative impacts to the health of the deer herd due to limited resources and interaction with human environment. In response, the task force recommended the use of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation-approved Deer Depredation Permits—also known as nuisance permits—a proposal which the QLC will bring to the Common Council meeting on February 7.
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