Post by Decatur on Oct 24, 2006 11:54:10 GMT -5
Deer hunting returns to Indiana Dunes State Park
Associated Press
Deer hunting to cull the herd will again be permitted at the Indiana Dunes State Park after a one-year hiatus.
Deer are eating too many plants in the park, so the hunt is needed to restore balance, said Jim Gerbracht, resource specialist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
“We’re charged with protecting all of our resources, not just deer and other animals but all of the plants, too,” he said. “If one negatively impacts another, we have to try to balance that. A lot of people get concerned about an individual species, but we have to look at the whole picture.”
Generally, hunting is not allowed in state parks. But in the 1990s, after scientists noticed deer were overgrazing on some plants, IDEM began determining how much damage the deer were causing.
“We found out we had damage to every one of our state parks and started the deer reduction program,” Gerbracht said.
The first hunt at the Dunes was in 1998. The most recent was in 2004, when 48 deer were killed. Gerbracht said the goal is to only have hunts every other year.
Associated Press
Deer hunting to cull the herd will again be permitted at the Indiana Dunes State Park after a one-year hiatus.
Deer are eating too many plants in the park, so the hunt is needed to restore balance, said Jim Gerbracht, resource specialist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
“We’re charged with protecting all of our resources, not just deer and other animals but all of the plants, too,” he said. “If one negatively impacts another, we have to try to balance that. A lot of people get concerned about an individual species, but we have to look at the whole picture.”
Generally, hunting is not allowed in state parks. But in the 1990s, after scientists noticed deer were overgrazing on some plants, IDEM began determining how much damage the deer were causing.
“We found out we had damage to every one of our state parks and started the deer reduction program,” Gerbracht said.
The first hunt at the Dunes was in 1998. The most recent was in 2004, when 48 deer were killed. Gerbracht said the goal is to only have hunts every other year.