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DEER WARS: SCIENCE, TRADITION, AND THE BATTLE OVER MANAGING WHITETAILS IN PENNSYLVANIA In 1931, when Charlie May was a teenager, deer were a rare thing in Pennsylvania. When one of his classmates burst into their one-room schoolhouse in Schuylkill County saying that he had seen a deer track - not a deer, mind you, but just a track - their teacher took everyone out into the snow to see it. Things have certainly changed in the decades since then. Sportsmen and biologists brought deer back in a big way in the early 20thcentury, growing the herd until it was considered to be among the two or three biggest in the nation. Indeed, May's son, who retired from the Pennsylvania Game Commission as a wildlife conservation officer in 2005, spent most of his career dealing not with a shortage of deer, but with an abundance of whitetails. That abundance - even overabundance, to hear some tell the story - has had severe consequences,though.You can have too much of a good thing when it comes to white-tailed deer, say some of the farmers, foresters, bird watchers, auto insurance agents, biologists, and even hunters who have to deal with the deer that roam Pennsylvania from the big woods of the northern tier to the suburbs around Pittsburgh and the parks within Philadelphia. All agree they want deer in Pennsylvania, but in manageable numbers in the right places.There have been and will continue to be problems until that balance is achieved. That's because deer, though beautiful, can also be devastating. 'Deer are second only to humans in their impact on a forest ecosystem,' says Dr. Gary Alt, who headed the Game Commission's deer management section until the constant battling over whitetails drove him to quit. 'They can, and will, dictate what other animals will survive there.'Knowing that is one thing. Being able to do something about it -especially in Pennsylvania, where deer hunting traditions are as deeply rooted as 100-year-old white oak - is something else. A number of people, some Game Commission officials included, say they deer herd has been mismanaged for 80 years. That must change, they say, if deer populations are to finally be brought into balance with their habitat and if hunting as we know it is to survive.Can that battle be won? People across the state and the nation are waiting to see. Virtually every state east of the Mississippi is dealing with this same issue - too many deer for the available habitat and a public that's come to believe having that many deer is not only OK, it's desirable. Pennsylvania may be the model for solving that problem. WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING:If I had the power to do it, I'd make Deer Wars mandatory reading for every deer hunter, anti-hunter, wildlife manager, farmer, forester and environmentalist in the state. It's that good. --Christian Berg, The Morning CallHunters and non-hunters alike should take the opportunity to read this book. Non-hunters stand to learn about the problems uncontrolled wild animal populations can create as well as the purpose and role hunting plays in managing those populations and problems. Hunters when you re finished you ll have a much better understanding of deer management as it's practiced today, whether or not you agree with it. More importantly, it will help you determine if you truly are a conservationist, or simply just a hunter. --Ted Onufrak, President, The Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc.It might be a little late now to find a copy to take to deer camp, but every Pennsylvania deer hunter should get and read: Deer Wars; Science, Tradition, and the Battle Over Managing Whitetails in Pennsylvania, a new book by Bob Frye. Not because the book will help those who still have a deer tag get a buck, but because this work offers a clear presentation of the history, lore and complexity of living with deer in the modern world. It's the book our state needed decades ago. Deer Wars examines all aspects of the questions: How many deer should Pennsylvania have? Why? And who says so?Throughout the book's 305 pages, he writes about deer and deer issues with a native Western Pennsylvania outdoorsman's insight and affection for whitetails, tempered with keen journalistic timing and logical organization of the material. Too often, the various sides in deer debates have tended to see Pennsylvania's landscape as static. But Frye succeeds in communicating, more than anything else, the fundamental changes that have occurred in the state's ecology, economy, land use and politics that have come together to put deer and humans in conflict. --Ben Moyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ISBN: 0-271-02885-8 publish date: 09/14/2006
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