The Essex County Deer Management program will be continued in Essex County South Mountain Reservation for the fourth consecutive year and in Essex County Eagle Rock Reservation and Essex County Hilltop Reservation for the second consecutive year. It will be conducted over a six-week period on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Tuesday, January 18th to Thursday, February 24th. To maximize safety, the three reservations will be closed to the public on the days the Deer Management Program is being conducted. Reducing the number of deer is part of an ongoing initiative by the administration to preserve and restore the forest ecology in Essex County's open spaces.
In previous years, the County Executive lobbied the elected officials in each municipality where the culling program would be conducted to adopt a resolution supporting a controlled hunt. The Executive, however, believed that since the program was being conducted exclusively on County-owned property the decision should be made by the County and not by the municipalities. Legislation allowing counties to develop community based deer management plans and apply for special deer management permits for county-owned lands was approved by the State in June 2010.
"We all know there is a need for this program and the fact that the number of deer involved in motor vehicle accidents dropped from 363 in 2008 to 114 so far this year speaks volumes of its success," Sheriff Armando Fontoura said. "Over the last three years, we have never had any incidents during the culling program. No one has been injured and no unauthorized people have entered the area where we have hunted. This is a safe program," he added.
The program will be conducted in South Mountain Reservation on Tuesdays, January 18th and 25th and Thursdays, January 20th and 27th and in Eagle Rock Reservation and Hilltop Reservation on Tuesdays, February 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd and on Thursdays, February 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th. The Executive pointed out that the program has been scaled back in South Mountain Reservation from six half days to four half days in the evening and in Eagle Rock Reservation from six full days to eight half days in the evening. The reduction in the number of days is attributed to the success of the program during the first three years.
From 2008 to 2010, a total of 750 deer were removed from the three reservations utilizing the volunteer services of experienced and qualified sharpshooters. From South Mountain Reservation, there were 360 deer culled in 2008 (213 deer and 147 unborn deer), 138 deer in 2009 (83 deer and 55 unborn deer) and 59 deer in 2010 (44 deer and 15 unborn deer). In 2010, there were 42 deer removed from Eagle Rock Reservation (19 deer and 23 unborn deer) and 151 deer removed from Hilltop Reservation (97 deer and 54 unborn deer). South Mountain Reservation is located in Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange, Eagle Rock Reservation is in West Orange and Hilltop Reservation is in Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona.
"We appreciate the ongoing support of the County Executive to continue the Deer Management Program. The aging forest and dwindling understory make this program a necessity," South Mountain Conservancy President Dennis Percher said. "The flip side is the unprecedented forest regeneration program. As the population of deer decreases, the seeds that are created in the enclosed areas will help regenerate the local ecosystem with native plants," he said.
"The Deer Management Program has been a blessing for Eagle Rock Reservation. It is a much smaller area than South Mountain, but the damage to the forest is the same," Eagle Rock Conservancy President Jim Christiano said. "The culling and forest regeneration have given us a platform to revitalize the forest. We can't thank Joe enough for what he has done," he noted.
To maximize safety, South Mountain, Eagle Rock and Hilltop reservations and all parking areas and roads inside the three reservations will be closed to the public on the days the program is held. Fairview Avenue in Cedar Grove and Verona will be closed to traffic, but all other county roadways will remain open. Essex County Turtle Back Zoo, Essex County Codey Arena, the Essex County Park-N-Ride facility and the Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange will remain open. The Essex County Sheriff's Office will coordinate safety patrols with local police departments.
Qualified, volunteer marksmen will be selected to participate as agents in the program. The volunteers are licensed by the State of New Jersey and must demonstrate their marksmanship ability and complete 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 will station themselves in trees at least 20 feet above the ground and only take shots at a downward angle.
All deer removed from the reservations will be transported to a check station where County officials will inspect the animals and collect information about its age, reproductive status, gender and weight, as well as the number of shots fired. They will then be transported by the County to a U.S. Department of Agriculture and NJ Department of Health approved butcher for processing. Venison will be distributed to the needy and homeless through the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Volunteer agents who complete at least six (6) half-day shifts of volunteer service will receive 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. A total of 47 enclosures (42 in South Mountain and 5 in Eagle Rock) have been installed over the past two years. Inside the enclosures, native vegetative species are planted so their seeds can be reintroduced into the area. The eight-foot high fences are designed to prevent deer and other large animals from foraging on the newly planted areas, but allow smaller animals, such as rodents and birds, to enter and exit. The fences will remain in place for about 25 years. 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.
Replanting native plant species was necessary to restore the forest understory that was being destroyed by the overbrowsing of deer. The loss of this vegetation has prevented new trees from growing, created erosion problems, allowed invasive plant species to flourish and caused the number of native animal species that rely on the plants for food or protection to decline.
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. Over the last two years, a pilot program has been underway 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. Essex County received a $30,000 grant from the Essex County Parks Foundation in 2009 and a $75,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 2010. The reflectors are installed along Cherry Lane, Brookside Drive, JFK Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn, Livingston and West Orange. The program has had positive results. In 2010 through October 1st, just 114 deer were removed from County roads. In 2009, there were 284 deer removed from County roads, in 2008 there were 363 and in 2007 there were 303.
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