Mt. Lebanon to launch sharpshooting program to cull deer for third year
The firearm component of this year’s Mt. Lebanon deer management plan is scheduled to begin Monday and continue through March 31. With special authority granted by the state Game Commission, contractors from Connecticut-based White Buffalo Inc. will place bait at designated locations and target white-tailed deer, primarily does, from elevated deer stands.
Mt. Lebanon commissioners have said their goal is to reduce deer-vehicle collisions by 50 percent in the 6.2-square mile homerule municipality south of Pittsburgh. White Buffalo will be paid $59,605 for the upcoming cull.
On Wednesday, Timothy J. Steinauer, superintendent of the Mt. Lebanon School District, sent a message about the sharpshooting operation to the families of its students. An attached letter from Ian McMeans, Mt. Lebanon assistant municipal manager, included the program’s general goals, times and locations.
Shooters will use suppressedfire rifles to reduce noise, the letter stated, and they will not be deployed on the neighborhood’s “safe walking routes” or within 1,000 feet of schools. Sharpshooters will be deployed from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Fridays in McNeilly and Robb Hollow parks, the public works property adjacent to Robb Hollow, the
municipal golf course and the conservation district on Connor Road. On private properties accessed with the permission of owners, sharpshooters will be in position from 4 to 7 p.m. daily, including Sundays. Specific private properties included in the program are not public information, per a ruling in a high-profile legal decision.
“Parents and teachers
may want to tell children to avoid the designated parks after dark and suggest they use sidewalks/established safe walking routes instead of shortcuts through private properties,” stated Mr. McMeans’ letter. “Anyone with a safety concern should call 911 immediately.”
The Game Commission permit authorizes White Buffalo to kill up to 100 deer during the upcoming cull, which is defined as a sanctioned wildlife-control operation not
bound by state hunting regulations. A recent controlled hunt, which included vetted and licensed archers required to follow hunting regulations, ended Jan. 26.
Most of the venison generated by the cull and controlled hunt is donated to Hunters Sharing the Harvest, a nonprofit program that distributes the meat to food shelters and soup kitchens. Similar controlled archery and sharpshooting programs in 2017 and early 2018
removed 82 deer from Mt. Lebanon. There were no safety incidents.
An experimental surgical sterilization program, which had been proposed for Mt. Lebanon but was denied state approval, is in its third year in Ann Arbor, Mich. A similar experiment is also underway in Fairfax, Va. Both are being conducted by White Buffalo.