Marc Dann, former Ohio attorney general and former state senator, is shown at the April 18 meeting of the Save the Deer of Mill Creek Park organization.

YOUNGSTOWN — Four people who live adjacent to the Mill Creek MetroParks have filed a long-discussed lawsuit against the park district over the deer reduction plan approved April 10 by the park board.

The lawsuit, filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, calls the deer reduction plan the “Deer Slaughter Plan.”

The filing says the plan is based on a deer count commissioned by the park system that used “infrared signatures detected at night via aerial surveillance, rather than actual visual sightings of white tail deer in the park or by ‘tagging’ each individual deer.”

Because of the method used, the park district “does not possess an actual or verifiable deer count” and “utilized this flawed count to justify its approval of a plan to significantly reduce the population of white tail deer” “through slaughter — killing them via bow hunting and sharpshooting beginning in late September 2023.”

The suit contains a request for preliminary injunction that would stop the park district from carrying out the reduction plan.

The case has been assigned to Judge Anthony Donofrio, who will have a preliminary injunction hearing at 9 a.m. Sept 21.

‘FRIVOLOUS’

When Aaron Young, Mill Creek MetroParks executive director, was asked about the lawsuit, he replied, “While we are disappointed that this frivolous action will divert critical time and precious resources away from where they are needed, which is in improving the MetroParks for generations to come, we will actively defend our position on this matter. We will have no further comment related to this until it is resolved.”

The lawsuit filed by Donald Allen, Heidi Behnke, Paul Chicone and James Cliff alleges that the MetroParks has provided only “sketchy at best” details of the deer reduction plan and has been “less than forthcoming when pressed for details, repeatedly responding to questions at public meetings with “go check the website” rather than providing specific information about” the deer reduction plan.

The addresses given for the four people who filed the suit is 15000 Madison Ave., Lakewood, which is the address for Dann’s law office.

Lee Frey, MetroParks Board chairman, said at the April 10 meeting that “the number of deer in Mill Creek MetroParks has reached a critical level. The numbers were astounding and showed that there were 19 times more deer” than the park could sustain “without causing biological damage.”

Dann spoke at a Save the Mill Creek Park Deer group meeting April 18 and urged about 100 people to try first to urge the MetroParks board members to change their vote and cancel their hunting plans. But he asked those who have “standing” to file suit because of their location adjacent to park properties to fill out a form.

At a MetroParks meeting last month, Frey said no hunts would take place in the city limits and that sharpshooters who would be employed would wear night vision equipment and shoot from an elevated position toward the ground, eliminating the likelihood of someone or something accidentally being shot.

The lawsuit states that many of the park’s properties are located adjacent to residential neighborhoods where the four filers of the lawsuit “live, work and recreate with their children, grandchildren, neighbors and other family members.”

CRITICISM

The plan, which is published on the MetroParks website, has left the four filers of the lawsuit and other community members with “serious, significant concerns regarding the (reduction) plan given the likelihood of injury to persons or property in areas adjacent to Mill Creek parcels,” the suit adds.

It states that if the plan proceeds, “residential neighborhoods should expect to observe white tail deer, after being shot by an arrow or rifle, running headlong through a neighborhood while bleeding and ultimately dying from its wounds.”

It warns that the plan will increase the probability that damage to property, human injury and trauma will be experienced by those who live adjacent to MetroParks properties that will be hunted.

The MetroParks has provided “precious little information” regarding safety measures the park district will adopt to prevent injury, damage or death “from a stray arrow or bullet,” it states. “Crossbow bolts can travel hundreds of yards while a rifle round can travel for over a mile.”

The hunts will force the individuals filing the lawsuit and others to stay inside and deprive them of the ability to enjoy the use of their property once the reduction plan begins, it states. It also calls the reduction plan “an inhumane method of reducing wildlife populations” and “appears to be contrary to” Ohio law, especially a provision that “requires a park district’s board of commissioners to protect and preserve the park’s wildlife, not destroy it.”