The state Department of Environmental Conservation has announced that a proposed five-year deer management plan is now available for public review and comment.

The plan is available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7211.html and DEC will be accepting public comment on the draft through Thursday, July 28.

The draft plan describes six primary goals that encompass the current priorities for deer management and the values and issues expressed by the public:

• Manage deer populations at levels that are appropriate for human and ecological concerns;

• Promote and enhance deer hunting as an important recreational activity, tradition, and population management tool in New York;

• Reduce negative impacts caused by deer;

• Foster public understanding and communication about deer ecology, deer management, economic aspects and recreational opportunities;

• Manage deer to promote healthy and sustainable forests and enhance habitat conservation efforts to benefit deer and other species;

• Ensure that the necessary resources are available to support sound management of white-tailed deer in New York.

In 2009, DEC held 20 public meetings across the state that were attended by more than 1,000 people to gain preliminary input regarding the most important issues that should be addressed in the plan. Input obtained during the public meetings and via various hunter surveys in recent years was used by DEC biologists and managers to help develop the recommendations and management actions contained in the draft plan.

The plan includes a number of specific management proposals that have been under discussion with the public for several years.

Among the recommendations included in the plan:

• Include an index of deer impact on forests when setting deer population objectives;

• Establish deer management focus areas with liberalized antlerless harvest rules in areas with overabundant deer;

• Establish a special youth deer hunting weekend in early October for junior hunters to aid in the recruitment of new deer hunters;

• Open the bowhunting season in the Southern Zone on October 1, rather than the current opening in mid-October;

• Continue the mandatory antler restriction program in wildlife management units (WMUs) 3C, 3H, 3J, and 3K, and expand antler restrictions to seven additional wildlife management units (WMUs 3A, 4G, 4O, 4P, 4R, 4S, and 4W) in southeastern New York.

DEC strives to provide a deer management program that balances diverse public interests and values with the biological needs and ecological relationships of deer, for the benefit of New York’s white-tailed deer herd and the people of New York.

Comments may be submitted in to DEC Deer Management Plan, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754 or by email to deerplan@gw.dec.state.ny.us by using “Deer plan” in the subject line.