Toledo park system wants to begin culling deer herds

TOLEDO — The board of commissioners of Metroparks Toledo approved an agreement Wednesday to again bring in expert marksmen in early 2018 to kill deer from the park system.

The contract with Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service — or APHIS— allows for deer kills to be conducted for up to six nights between Jan. 1 and March 31.

The inspection service — an agency of the U .S. Department of Agriculture specializing in working to resolve wildlife conflicts — is to be paid $28,014.

So far, park officials don’t know what metroparks will be targeted for the kill, the number of deer to be killed or if a permit will be issued.

Tim Schetter, Metroparks director of natural resources, said an application was sent to the Ohio Division of Wildlife with information about the deer population asking for approval for killing deer as part of the Metroparks’ deer management program.

“Their biologists need to review that plan, and once they’ve done that they will either approve, change, modify or potentially deny that request,” Schetter said.

Schetter said a decision from the Ohio Division of Wildlife is expected within about 30 days.

Metroparks began killing deer in the park system in 2016 in an effort to control the white-tailed deer population and reduce the ecological damage associated with burgeoning herds.

“Deer management is an ongoing issue for the park district and always will be. We will be looking at all park areas in the future to make sure that we maintain the deer at appropriate levels,” Schetter said.

“Our long-term objective is to transition to having our own rangers performing deer control activities along with our natural resources staff. Our work with APHIS will allow us to get the deer population down to where we want them,” Schetter said.

In the culling conducted in January, 200 deer were killed in hunts at Swan Creek and Oak Openings metroparks. Nearly 10,000 pounds of venison processed from the deer were distributed to Cherry Street Mission and a monthly food distribution food program for needy families in western Lucas County.