Deer& Tick Committee dispute over money

It was revealed at the August 3 Deer & Tick Committee meeting that much less money than had been anticipated went to a rewards program meant to encourage hunters to take more deer.

Gift cards in the reward program for hunters cost the town about $2,000 in 2015, but conversations during the budget phase last year concluded that much more was needed to give hunters an incentive to participate in culling the herd.

But only $3,600 was spent in 2016 for the gift cards.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation prohibits direct rewards to hunters for killing deer, but allows Shelter Island to award entries into a lottery for each deer taken and to conduct regular drawings among hunters with the chance of getting a gift card, mostly from sporting goods outlets.

The part of the budget to be spent on the deer cull was increased to $20,000, but there was no breakdown of just how the money would be spent.

Committee member Marc Wein challenged Chairman Mike Scheibel at the meeting last week to explain why so little was directed toward incentives to the hunters after Police Chief Jim Read has, on several occasions, called the gift card incentive program effective.

Without offering a lot of specific numbers, both Mr. Scheibel and Animal Control Officer Beau Payne talked about more money being used to enhance the culling effort, including some that was allocated to Mr. Payne’s salary.

Mr. Payne said $25,000 was allocated to deer reduction management, including covering part of his $50,000 starting salary, which has now grown to $55,000 and is slated to rise to $56,100 with a 2 percent raise next year. The animal control officer spoke about his responsibilities, including finding additional properties the town could manage for hunting and finding more local hunters to participate in culling the herd.

Mr. Payne also said the money covered the costs of butchering the deer.

Mr. Wein said he’s “shocked” that only $3,600 went directly to hunters’ incentives.

“I think it’s insulting to the hunters on the Island,” he said. “What is the point of not doing as much as we can?”

Mr. Wein added that it appeared some of the money meant as an incentive to hunters had, instead, been used to support the deployment and maintenance of 4-poster units — feeding stands that brush deer with a tickicide, permethrin — an effort he believes is flawed.

He further stated that 90 percent of the draft budget for 2017, which hasn’t yet been publicly released, is allocated for 4-posters, not culling.

Mr. Scheibel said he had no knowledge of money ticketed for deer management being diverted to 4-posters.

“There’s room for some modest increase” in money for incentives to hunters,” Mr. Scheibel said. “But we need to be a little cautious.”

He said he’s not convinced that a lot more money in the pot for hunters would result in many more kills.

Councilman Jim Colligan, Town Board liaison to the committee, said he would want more money devoted to hunter incentives in the 2017 budget.

Dr. Scott Campbell, a committee member and director of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services Laboratory, reiterated his findings that there’s a definite correlation between culling and the numbers of ticks in any area.

That wasn’t enough for committee member Henry Amann, a firm advocate of 4-posters, who said after culling, humans would become hosts for the ticks.

“The deer are our allies,” Mr. Amann said.

Dr. Campbell continues to support deployment of 4-posters, noting they should be stocked and operable between April through November.

While the committee’s budget request draft hasn’t been released, Mr. Scheibel said it would be equal to the current year’s allocation.