Interestingly, every year I talk to hunters who seem convinced that NY deer management is run by the auto insurance industry. Yet, I can definitively say that DEC staff make decisions about deer management without influence from auto insurers. In fact, in the years I've been part of the deer program and working with our regional biologists to set antlerless harvest quotas, I have not once been contacted by an auto insurance representative.
So do deer-vehicle collision rates play any role in NY deer management? Sure, here's how. We periodically conduct Citizen Task Force (CTF) meetings (
www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7207.html) in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) throughout the state to engage the public in dialogue about the deer-related impacts experienced in their area and to generate recommendations for change in the local deer population. CTFs are comprised of local folks from a variety of backgrounds and may include hunters, farmers, foresters, conservationists, motorists, landowners, small business owners, and others. If deer-vehicle collisions are a hot issue for these folks, it may influence their recommendation for change in the deer population in that WMU. Also, deer-vehicle collisions are often a prime concern for many municipalities looking to establish deer reduction programs within their municipal borders.
