Staff photo / Ed Runyan Mill Creek MetroParks Board members are shown during Monday’s regular monthly meeting, from left, Jeff Haney, Germaine Bennett, Lee Frey and Tom Frost. At the end of the row is Megan Hanley, MetroParks board human resources and administrative director. Not present at the meeting was board member Paul Oliver. Hanley attended the meeting on behalf of Aaron Young, executive director of the Mill Creek MetroParks.

YOUNGSTOWN — The proposal for reducing the deer population in Mill Creek MetroParks’ 15 parks would occur in two ways.

The proposed options are firearm hunting by federally employed professional marksmen; and bow and firearm hunting, through a state Division of Wildlife lottery — depending upon location in the park system.

Lee Frey, MetroParks Board president, said Monday the board will vote on whether to implement the proposed deer reduction program at the 6 p.m. April 10 board meeting at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield.

The MetroParks gave a presentation Monday at the MetroParks board monthly meeting at the farm. Nick Derico, MetroParks natural resources manager, provided a 40-minute overview of his proposal for reducing the deer population.

Afterward, 30 citizens spoke, each for about three minutes, to give their opinions on the idea of reducing the number of deer. Many were opposed to killing deer, and many said they did not believe the data on the number of deer in the parks.

The MetroParks conducted a study using aerial, nighttime thermal imaging in January 2022 that indicated the number of deer in the parks is 387 per square mile, which the MetroParks says is 19 times higher than the “carrying capacity of the land.” The MetroParks says the number of deer should be between 10 and 20 deer per square mile. Derico has said the number of deer in the MetroParks is “a very serious problem.”

TARGETED METHOD

The targeted method of reducing the deer population would be used in Mill Creek Park, the park system’s best-known park and involves reductions of deer in urban and suburban areas.

Mill Creek Park is from Fellows Riverside Gardens in Youngstown to U.S. Route 224 in Boardman. Targeted removal also would be used in Yellow Creek Park on Lowellville Road, Struthers.

Targeted deer removal would involve “federally employed professional marksmen” using firearms with noise suppressors on their firearms. United States Department of Agriculture employees do this work during the winter months as part of their jobs, Derico said.

The marksmen would use night vision and / or thermal imaging technology to hunt at night, the MetroParks proposal states. It would take place from October to March, depending on weather conditions and staff availability.

This method “may also be used to supplement controlled hunting efforts at various locations, as needed,” according the Mill Creek MetroPark presentation available on the park website states.

During targeted removal, the portions of the parks where the removal is taking place would be closed to the public, and the public would be notified in advance. Signage will be put in place.

“Use of a firearm is considered an ethical means of euthanasia by the American Veterinary Medical Association,” the presentation states.

All venison from the USDA-harvested deer “will be processed and donated to the community through local food banks and community outreach programs,” the MetroParks presentation states. “On average, a single mature deer will provide over 200 quarter-pound servings of high-quality meat to families in need,” it states.

No deer with a “unique color phase,” such as albino or other white deer will be “targeted” during any targeted deer removal operations, the park system states.

CONTROLLED HUNTING

The other method of deer reduction is called controlled hunting, which would begin this fall and would involve hunters being chosen at random through a lottery conducted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.

They would be primarily archery hunting, but firearm hunting “will be incorporated at select regional facilities,” the presentation states.

Permit-holding hunters would be required to follow a “list of MetroParks-provided rules and regulations, and the statewide hunting regulations defined by the” ODNR Division of Wildlife. The rules are “enforceable by law.”

A $3 application fee would be collected by the Division of Wildlife to cover costs, and none of the proceeds would benefit the MetroParks, the presentation states. Applications would be accepted July 1 to July 31. Notification to applicants would be made in mid-August.

Only white-tailed deer are allowed to be killed during the controlled hunts. The number of hunters per property would be limited based on the number of acres. “There will never be more than 38 permit holders at any given time across all properties,” the presentation states.

Hunters can bring one guest per day, and hunters are “encouraged to harvest anterless deer to effectively reduce overall population levels.” The facilities where the hunting is taking place will be closed to the public while hunting is taking place.

The hunts will be available to 582 archery hunters and 680 firearm hunters.

Controlled hunts would be carried out in the following parks: Hitchcock and Huntington Woods, both off Route 224 in Boardman; Collier Preserve, a short distance east; Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, just south of there in Beaver Township; Sawmill Creek Preserve, just north of Canfield; Vickers Nature Preserve, in Ellsworth Township; the MetroParks Farm just south of Canfield; Sebring Woods near Sebring; McGuffey Wildlife Preserve in Coitsviille Township; Hawkins Marsh in Berlin Township; and Springfield Forest in Springfield Township.

There are three other parks, but no hunting will take place there — Egypt Swamp Preserve, Cranberry Run Headwaters and the MetroParks Bikeway. The first two will not have hunting because they do have have public access, such as a parking lot, Derico said.

SURVEYS

Though many people at Monday’s meeting were opposed to hunting deer in the MetroParks, the park system provided data on the responses provided to the MetroParks on its website that showed more support for the idea than what was expressed at the meeting.

The emails were “verified by a third-party service,” the MetroParks stated. Any invalid or duplicate emails were removed.

The data indicated that of 407 verified responses, 74 percent came from Mahoning County residents.

Fifty-seven percent of all respondents said that they believe there are too many deer in the parks. Fifty-three percent of Mahoning County respondents said they think there are too many deer in the parks.

Sixty-two percent of all respondents said they think something needs to be done to “address the deer population” in the parks. Fifty-seven percent of Mahoning County respondents think something needs to be done.

PAST REDUCTIONS

The presentation stated that the last time the deer population was reduced was when deer were reduced through a program in 2000 and 2001.

That one took place in Hitchcock Woods, Huntington Woods and Mill Creek Park from Shields Road to U.S. Route 224.

Another program that ran from Oct. 31, 1999, to Jan. 29, 2000 was described in a “rule sheet” from that time that the Metroparks copied and included in its presentation. The sheet stated that qualified deer hunters were going to use archery to remove deer from Hitchcock Woods in Boardman.

And in 1998 and 1999, a similar program was carried out in Hitchcock Woods and Huntington Woods, according to the parks presentation.

ODNR

The MetroParks presentation states that the ODNR Division of Wildlife approves controlled hunting as an “effective management tool over time.” It states that it “provides a long term and sustainable solution to manage deer populations (and) provides recreational opportunity (334,736 licensed hunters statewide in 2021, 2,176 in Mahoning County).”

It states that targeted removal is “considered an ethical means of management,” and “provides a long term and sustainable solution to manage deer populations in areas where traditional hunting practices are not feasible.”

It quotes the Division of Wildlife stating that fertility control and relocation of deer are not effective methods of reducing deer herds.

Fertility controls “have been extensively studied by numerous organizations and have proven to be ineffective at managing deer populations in wild free-ranging populations.”

Relocation of white-tailed deer is “not a permitted method of management by the Ohio Division of Wildlife,” adding that “The issue of white-tailed deer overpopulation is a nationwide problem — Where would they go?” That method also results in “disease transmission. Moving animals from one area to another drastically increases the risk of spreading disease such as (Chronic Wasting Disease).”