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YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has approved a permit for Mill Creek MetroParks to use U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters to eliminate 30 deer from Mill Creek Park in Boardman.
The "targeted deer removal" permit is effective now through March 31, 2024.
However, Aaron Young, MetroParks executive director, said Thursday the deer removal program is on hold at least until after a hearing Thursday on a civil lawsuit filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that aims to halt the kills.
Geoff Westerfield, assistant wildlife manager supervisor for ODNR Division of Wildlife, said he believes the MetroParks' plan is to start the program in early to mid-October.
Westerfield said the 30 deer listed in the permit is a starting point because if during the removal process it becomes apparent that more should be removed, the number can be increased.
"At this point, we set it at 30, and that's what we are working off of out of the gate," he said.
He said, in general, when working with a park district or other property owner, the goal is to reach the desired number within five years. "That way, we are not dragging this out forever."
He said the geographical area covered by the permit is Mill Creek Park north of U.S. Route 224 to Shields Road. "That is their focus area. They may move a little bit north, depending on how things go toward Midlothian, but once they are in Youngstown, that's the city limits, and they can't shoot up there because of the ordinances for the city don't allow for it."
Westerfield said the permitting process is not specific as to regulating the type of methods used by the sharpshooters.
"Whoever is doing the shooting, that's for them to deal with. I don't dictate how they kill the deer."
He said the USDA deer program, which uses its employees to carry out the sharpshooting, "has a lot of different programs and they have a lot of different methods of how they do deer removals."
He said the sharpshooters will decide what methods are the most appropriate. They aim to get their work done as quickly as possible, he said.
The permitting starts with a request from the park, which includes data from the park, such as the number of deer to be removed compared with deer reductions in other areas "to see if that number is appreciate."
Among the rules listed in the permit is that no more than 20 percent of the deer harvested can be anterless deer. The permit states that there is "no restriction on the hours when the deer may be shot."
The permit application filed with Westerfield by the MetroParks Sept. 1 states,"If possible, additional permits may be requested based (on) need, staff availability and budget.
"Additional permits may also include additional properties such as Huntington Woods and / or Hitchcock Woods based upon the results of the controlled hunting program that will be taking place at these locations Oct. 1, 2023, through Jan. 27, 2024."
The permit application contains a 12-page Assessment of Forest Regeneration in Mill Creek Park, Huntington Woods and Hitchcock Woods from June 2023.
Forest regeneration is "the process that allows a forest to replace and sustain in the long term through the establishment and survival of seedlings the repack nature canopy trees as they die, either by natural causes or by large disturbance events, such as windstorms, wildfire or disease."
The type of plants white-tailed deer feed on can "negatively influence forest regeneration when populations exceed ecological carrying capacity." In the case of Mill Creek MetroParks, the ecological effects of white-tailed deer overabundance such as distinct browse lines, stunted forest regeneration and low species diversity have been anecdotally noted in some areas for over two decades."