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June 4, 2008

Forum: DNR counts on hunters to curb TB

BY REBECCA A. HUMPHRIES

I would like to clarify some of the information on which you based the May 6 editorial "Deer hunters can't be left out of TB solution."

The department agrees that deer hunters cannot be left out of the TB solution. However, during recent years the deer population in northeast Lower Michigan has begun creeping back up in spite of extended hunting seasons and readily available antlerless licenses.

Since control measures for bovine tuberculosis started in 1997, the Department of Natural Resources has counted on hunters to help eradicate the disease, at least in part by managing the white-tailed deer resource. During the last decade, early and late antlerless deer hunting seasons were introduced and maintained in the core TB outbreak area, also known as Deer Management Unit 452.

There have been virtually unlimited antlerless deer licenses made available to hunters wishing to help with the responsibility for management of the disease in the deer herd. A responsible and motivated hunter could potentially harvest an antlerless deer every day between October 1 and January 1 every year since 1998. Lack of opportunity simply isn't a legitimate charge to level at the DNR.

During the same decade, requests from the public to the DNR and the Natural Resources Commission to increase deer numbers, even in areas affected by TB, resulted in the discontinuation of the early firearms season, as well as restrictions on public land antlerless harvest in northeast Michigan counties.

However, the NRC last week approved a five-day early firearm antlerless deer season on private property beginning the third Thursday in September in the core TB area as a way to further involve hunters in management of this disease.

I take exception to the claim that the state has done nothing to inform the public about the necessity and importance of TB control measures. Since 1995, when TB was first discovered in deer, the state has held innumerable public meetings, shared written information and talked individually with thousands of members of Michigan's public about the important aspects of eradicating the disease.

The Departments of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Community Health have all been involved in this effort and have targeted information to their audiences.

Disease control permits are not new. They have been in use since 1998 and remain a legitimate tool for use in specific situations.

For 13 years, the DNR has remained committed to controlling TB through hunting. However, when deer and cattle intermingle and transmission occurs, the DNR is obligated to develop and modify other strategies to ensure the health of the wildlife population, as well as protect farmers' livelihoods and the state's economy from TB.

About the author: Rebecca A. Humphries has been director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources since April of 2004; prior to that she led the DNR's Wildlife Division. She is a graduate of Michigan State University, with a degree in fisheries and wildlife.

About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.

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