70 Deer Removed from Essex County Reservations in Annual Culling

Seventy deer — along with 33 unborn deer — were removed from Essex County’s South Mountain Reservation and Hilltop Reservation during the 2015 Essex County Deer Management Program, according to a release from the Essex County Executive’s office.

The program was impacted by the weather this year, said officials, including a snowstorm caused that cancelled the first day of culling and frigid temperatures and icy conditions severely ultimately reduced the number of deer culled.

During the four days in South Mountain Reservation, , snow cancelled the program on January 27 and freezing temperatures led to no deer being culled on February 3 and 5. The only day that deer were culled in South Mountain was January 29.

The program is part of an ongoing initiative by the county to preserve and restore the forest ecology in Essex County’s open spaces and address motor vehicle accidents involving deer.

“We have been very successful in reducing the deer population in our reservations to a manageable level, which has enabled us to transition our program from aggressively removing deer and scaling it back to where our goal is to maintain the population. While we have made tremendous progress, it is important to continue this maintenance mode to preserve the forest habitat and maintain our reservations as viable resources for recreation and open space,” said County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo. “Since we started in 2008, we have removed 1,030 deer from our reservations, started a program to accelerate the re-growth of our forests and introduced a pilot program to reduce traffic accidents involving deer. The over abundance of deer affects all of our communities, and our program provides a comprehensive approach to address the problem,” he said.

The program was not held in Eagle Rock Reservation.

The results from this year are as follows:

From 2008 to 2014, a total of 1,670 deer (1,030 deer and 640 unborn deer) were removed from the three reservations utilizing the volunteer services of experienced and qualified marksmen. There were 360 deer (213 deer and 147 unborn deer) removed in 2008, 138 deer (83 deer and 55 unborn deer) removed in 2009, 252 deer (160 deer and 92 unborn deer) removed in 2010, 339 deer (187 deer and 152 unborn deer) removed in 2011, 274 deer (175 deer and 99 unborn deer) removed in 2012, 152 deer (104 deer and 48 unborn deer) removed in 2013 and 155 deer (108 deer and 47 unborn deer) removed in 2014.

To maximize safety, the reservations and all parking areas and roads inside them were closed to the public on the days the program was held. The Essex County Sheriff’s Office coordinated safety patrols with local police departments.

Qualified, volunteer marksmen were selected to participate in the program. The volunteers were licensed by the State of New Jersey and demonstrated their marksmanship ability and completed an orientation program with the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. When in the reservations, the agents stationed themselves in trees at least 20 feet above the ground and only took shots at a downward angle.

All deer removed from the reservations were transported to a check station where County officials inspected the animals and collected information about its age, reproductive status, gender and weight, as well as the number of shots fired. They were then transported by the County to a NJ Department of Health approved butcher for processing. Venison was donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside. In 2015, 1,668 pounds of venison were donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which provided about 6,675 meals. Since 2008,  a total of 32,649 pounds of venison have been donated to the FoodBank, which equates to about 130,600 meals. Volunteer marksmen who completed at least four (4) half-day shifts of volunteer service received 40 pounds of venison.

In addition to culling the deer herd, an aggressive replanting program to accelerate the regrowth of the forests is underway in South Mountain Reservation and Eagle Rock Reservation. Forty-seven enclosures (42 in South Mountain and 5 in Eagle Rock) have been installed where native vegetative species have been planted so their seeds can be reintroduced into the area as the plants mature. The fences will remain in place for about 25 years to prevent large animals from foraging. The planting project was funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program received by the South Mountain Conservancy and the Eagle Rock Conservancy and grants from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.

The third aspect of the Essex County Deer Management Program is enhancing safety on County roads by reducing the number of motor vehicle accidents involving deer. Through a pilot program with the NJ Department of Transportation, Essex County received grant money to install detection devices that reflect motor vehicle headlights and emit a high-pitched noise to scare deer away from the road when cars approach. The reflectors are installed along Cherry Lane, Brookside Drive, JFK Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn, Livingston and West Orange.

In 2014, 251 deer carcasses were removed from County roads. There were 222 deer carcasses removed from County roads in 2013, 201 deer in 2012, 233 deer in 2011, 229 deer in 2010, 284 deer in 2009, 363 deer in 2008 and 303 in 2007.