Deer and Deer Management in New York State

Joint logo for deer-deer mgmt program

DEC’s Public Engagement Pilot Project


Overview of DEC pilot project to improve collection of public input about deer populations and impacts – read about pilot project here.

Join our webinar series – learn more about deer natural history, deer impacts and deer management – click here to read about the webinar series and register to participate.

Interested in Participating in the Stakeholder Input Group (SIG)? 

Get involved – are you interested in receiving information about upcoming programs or applying to become part of the small group of interested citizens that will provide feedback to DEC about deer impacts in the Central Finger Lakes WMU Aggregate?

We will be selecting approximately 12 individuals for the SIG who can reflect a variety of interests and characteristics of people living in the Central Finger Lakes WMU aggregate, such as folks who enjoy seeing deer, are concerned about Lyme disease, own forested land, hunt, farm or simply spend a lot of time driving in areas with deer. The goal for composition of the SIG will be gathering a cross-section of informed, thoughtful people who reflect a broad scope of interests in deer and deer management. Individuals selected for the SIG need to be available on the primary dates for the 2 meetings (March 1st and March 15th) and the snow dates (March 3rd and March 17th), from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Statements of interest in participating need to be completed by February 5th. We will notify you about whether you are selected to participate in the pilot SIG by Tuesday, February 23rd. To qualify for the Stakeholder Input Group you must attend both webinars or view them online before applying. Recordings are posted at the bottom of this web page under “Webinar Recordings”.

To complete a statement of interest to be part of the SIG please follow this link: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9KAUB5fhQFxmbLn

WMU Aggregate maps.
Statewide WMU Aggregates
Central Finger Lakes WMU Aggregate

Deer Related Resources


Publications:

AVID (Assessing Vegetation Impacts from Deer) is now available and can be implemented this spring! The main part of the protocol focuses on measuring key species of forest wildflowers and the time to measure them is from now until the end of June. Tree seedlings can also be measured throughout the summer.

Cornell Cooperative Extension and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in partnership with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, developed this method for volunteers, foresters, and landowners to assess the effects of deer browse on New York forests. Individuals can get involved in this high-profile project to document the health of New York forests and track changes over time. Participants will learn about the ecology of their land, and learn to identify spring wildflowers and trees, and develop an eye for recognizing key signs of damage based on the presence or absence of key wildflower indicator species and trees and shrubs.

The data collection will be available as a smartphone app before the end of the year, and data can also be submitted via a web site that we hope to have running by the end of summer. In the meantime, however, if you collect data this season on the paper data sheets located in the back of the protocol manual, you can scan them and email them to kls20@cornell.edu and the data will be entered into the database for you.

2015 Survey of Residents’ Attitudes on Deer and Deer Management – the deer impacts reportedly experienced by citizens in the Central Finger Lakes Aggregate Unit.

Community Based Deer Management

Evaluation of Deer Management Options

An Integrated Approach for Managing White-Tail Deer in Suburban Environments

Managing White-Tailed Deer in Suburban Environments

PowerPoint Presentations:

Collaborative Deer Management Outreach Initiative Overview – An overview of DEC’s new pilot initiative to provide information to the public and to engage stakeholders in giving input on deer population size in conjunction with ecological factors. The pilot area is the Central Finger Lakes Aggregate Unit.
PPT    PDF    Presentation Recording (14:35 minutes)

Community-Based Deer Management
PPT    PDF    Presentation Recording ( minutes)

The Natural History of White-tailed Deer – Learn about the natural history of this charismatic species.
PPT    PDF    Presentation Recording (13:50 minutes)

Deer Management Options – An overview of the options available for managing deer in New York State
PPT    PDF    Presentation Recording (25.34 minutes)

2015 Survey of Residents’ Attitudes on Deer and Deer Management – This presentation summarizes the deer impacts reportedly experienced by citizens in the Central Finger Lakes Aggregate Unit.
PPT    PDF    Presentation Recording (15:46 minutes)
Read more about results of the public survey here.

Deer Related Impacts – An overview of the positive and negative impacts people associate with deer.
PPT    PDF     Presentation Recording (18:38 minutes)

Dealing with Deer Impacts and Crop Damage in New York – An overview of the damage deer can cause to agriculture and steps you can take to reduce those impacts.
PPT    PDF     Presentation Recording (15:02 minutes)

Dealing with Deer Impacts and Suburban Damage in New York – An overview of the damage deer can cause around the home and garden and steps you can take to minimize those impacts.
PPT    PDF     Presentation Recording (27:54 minutes)

Healthy Forests, Healthy Deer – An overview of the impacts deer have on forests and how that affects the quality of habitat for deer and other wildlife, as well as the future health of our forests.
PPT    PDF     Presentation Recording (25:49 minutes)

Webinar Recordings:

Deer and Deer Management in NYS Webinar – Part 1

Deer and Deer Management in NYS Webinar – Part 2

Other Resources

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Frequently Asked Questions about Deer and Deer Management