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| Citizens for Animal Rights of Eastern-Iowa |
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| An an activist in the Cedar Rapids area has contacted us about needing help to get people to write to the Deer Task Force (DTF) asking that deer -NOT- be killed to protect plants and car accidents. Below is information regarding the DTF as well as a sample letter. Please remember not to use the sample letter word for word! If they get two letters looking even remotely the same, they may get suspicious. Be creative and use your own words - put your heart into it.
Feel free to contact Laurie Crawford Stone for more information or help with letters. A new deer task force (“DTF”) was convened in October to study deer. During his years in office, current Parks Commissioner Wagner received only 6 complaints about deer. When he refused to reconvene the DTF because he felt the deer were not an issue, our local media and a handful of people went to work to incite people against deer. They want deer killed. They say that their concern is deer/vehicle accidents but we know most of these folks want to protect their plants. They are not willing to take the steps necessary (planting things deer don’t like, spraying, fencing, etc) so they want the city to kill deer. They don’t realize that killing some deer won’t keep others from eating their plants (or crossing the road)! People can take steps to protect plants - and those steps will protect their plants from all deer or we can kill some deer and others will come and eat the plants (or cross the road). Seems pretty obvious what makes the most sense if the goal is to keep plants from being eaten by deer. Seems pretty obvious… unless the goal is to kill deer. As with any animal that is targeted as a nuisance, the knee jerk reaction is to kill the animal. Killing creates habitat and food availability for remaining animals. The result is immigration of other animals and an increase in the reproductive rate. Iowa City has experienced an average 131% annual increase in deer populations via immigration and reproductive rates in years sharpshooters killed deer. Iowa City also experienced an increase in deer/vehicle accidents during the years sharpshooters killed deer. Humans have tools to educate themselves and take preventive measures to reduce deer browse and deer/vehicle accidents. Deer may continue to come to a person’s yard but if a person has been educated and is willing to take responsibility for their property, they can reduce or prevent browse. Deer may continue to cross roadways, but if the city will post signs to warn drivers, reduce speed limits and take steps to ensure drivers will see deer (trim roadside brush) and to keep deer off roads (use road salt alternatives, put up fencing, install reflectors, add underpasses, deer gates, etc), reduction of deer/vehicle accidents will result. In Iowa City and Waukon, the roads where reflector lights were installed experienced almost 100% reduction in deer/vehicle accidents. At the time the previous DTF (1998) made this recommendation there was federal funding for 80% of installation cost. Other communities have educated homeowners/drivers and taken preventive measures to keep deer off roadways, provide notice and increase visibility with success. These steps also resulted in improved community relations. Most of these same tried and true measures were recommended by the previous deer task force and ignored. Had those measures been taken in 1998, the concerns of property owners and drivers would have been addressed. None of this would be an issue today. We need your help. We all know the squeaky wheel gets oiled! The Iowa City DTF has admitted they succumbed to pressure to kill deer because they heard primarily from people who wanted to kill. We need to ensure the Cedar Rapids DTF hears from those who don’t want to kill – from those who prefer non-lethal methods, proven to work in communities where they have been tried, rather than lethal which simply increase deer/vehicle accidents and result in greater numbers of deer. The education/prevention recommendations of the previous DTF were the result of a consensus (not majority vote – the current method of voting, but consensus) of the members following hundreds of hours of education and discussion. The recommendations were submitted to the previous Parks Commissioner who ignored them. The new DTF does not need to re-invent the wheel. One previous DTF recommendation was to monitor Iowa City’s (“IC”) sharp shooting program (including cost and safety issues). Killing deer caused safety issues in IC. IC deer/vehicle accidents have increased dramatically in years sharpshooters kill deer - frightened deer run onto roadways. Costs have been higher than expected. To date IC has paid sharp shooters over $350,000 to kill deer. Costs for this year’s kill are not yet reported. Killing is simply not fiscally responsible, especially because once started, it tends to be repeated annually. Killing deer has caused an increase in the IC deer population in areas where deer are killed (the deer appear to be self regulating in IC areas where killing did not occur). Other studies show that deer populations, if left alone, self regulate every ten years. We need letters to the DTF and city council. Please ask the DTF and City council to implement the educational/preventive measures recommended by the previous deer task force and tell them not to kill deer. You might mention you don’t want your tax dollars used to kill deer – better to spend money for education/prevention measures. Education and prevention measures are one time expenditures. Killing and the costs of hiring killers is repeated year after year because deer numbers rise following each kill. Contact information is below: (1) Letters to the entire City Council and DTF can be mailed to: (Please address letters to the Deer Task Force members and City Council). City Clerk's Office 3rd Floor, City Hall 50 2nd Avenue Bridge Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 (2) Email communications can be sent to all five commissioners as follows: (Please ask them to forward a copy of the email to DTF members). mayor@cedar-rapids.org parks@cedar-rapids.org publicsafety@cedar-rapids.org streets@cedar-rapids.org finance@cedar-rapids.org Attend one or more DTF meetings if you wish. The public has been invited to some meetings (there was no public notice for no-kill presentations, yet there has been for information about killing deer. There isn’t always time for comments but we encourage you to raise your hand and try to speak up). Meeting notice, when given, is provided in The Gazette. |
| Deer Task Force (DTF) Action Alert |
| Sample letter:
It is important to not use this letter exactly “as is” so no one is suspect!! Dear Deer Task Force members, I do not want deer killed. Cedar Rapids should take other steps to protect plants and prevent accidents. The property owner should be responsible for his own plants. The city and deer task force can help by providing educational materials about ways to protect private property. Humans can learn ways to avoid collisions with deer. The deer task force can develop a driver education program. The City can take steps to keep deer away from roads and to warn drivers in areas where deer are present. Reducing speed limits will reduce accidents by increasing response time. Developers have decreased available land for deer. The City should set aside areas attractive to wildlife to encourage them to live in those areas. We can learn to live with wildlife. Killing each nuisance animal is not an acceptable response. It takes more time and effort to develop a plan of education and prevention but this will be a long term solution. Killing is not. Sincerely, Name address For letter writers: You could mention some of these as well - Plant solutions include: ** Fencing ** Netting ** Repellents ** Planting deer resistant plants ** Allowing higher fences for protecting gardens Safety solutions include: ** Don’t use salt on roads (salt attracts deer) ** Fencing and one way deer gates to keep deer off roads ** Remove road side brush to increase driver visibility and decrease attractiveness of roadsides for browsing ** Putting up deer crossing signs ** Reducing speed limits in deer areas ** Warning drivers to increase caution during the fall rut and hunting season and during Apr/May/June (dispersal in Apr- last year’s fauns are more apt to be on roads alone because being pushed away by mom in preparation for new fauns, May- birth of new babies and June-new fauns starting to move around ) ** Warnings to watch for deer at dusk and dawn when they are more active ** Planning roads to avoid bisecting deer sleeping and eating areas, ** Provide maps of areas where deer cross roads for drivers. |
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