April 27, 2023 at 11:27 a.m.
Northwoods CDACs to meet next week
By Beckie Gaskill-bjoki@lakelandtimes.com
In the past, County Deer Advisory Committees (CDACs) had met before this public comment period. The idea was for each CDAC to make a preliminary recommendation on the deer season structure in their county. They would also accept public comment at that first meeting, which was traditionally in April, and a public comment period would open after that first meeting.
This year the DNR changed how the CDACs work in that they only have one meeting this spring.
Now that all of the public comment has been logged, CDACs are now charged with reviewing all of those public comments. Using those comments, as well as the deer metrics system put together by department, wildlife biologists, the CDACs will then make their final recommendation. These recommendations will be forwarded on to the Natural Resources Board for final approval.
What CDACs do
The roll of the CDAC in each county is two-fold. First, they create objectives for the deer herd in the county. This is done every three years. It falls under the heading of increase, decrease or maintain. There is not a population number attached to the objective, but rather a direction in which the CDAC would like to see the deer population trend. This is an overarching three-year goal for the herd, and each year, the CDAC sets their deer season framework to align with that goal.
Each CDAC meets every year to create recommendations on the season based on the overarching goal at the time. Whether a county chooses to increase, decrease or maintain the deer herd at the current level may influence decisions such as how many antlerless tags to allow for the county in that year. Private and public land tags are divided, and CDACs make recommendations on how many tags should be given for each land type. The number of tags is based on past hunter success and the number of antlerless deer the CDAC believes should be taken off the landscape in order to meet the overall three-year objective.
CDACs are governed by a charter with three main objectives
The first objective is to gather public opinion regarding deer populations and what goals should be set for those populations. This is done through antlerless quotas and other deer management strategies.
The second objective on the charter concerns metrics. The CDACs are charged with reviewing and considering the deer herd trend metrics, which can be found on the DNR website for each county. These metrics are provided by the wildlife biologist in the county.
The metrics include data such as deer harvest and population trends, which looks at harvest statistics and issuance and success rates for hunters. Another metric is the health of the overall deer herd in the county. This includes data such as the winter severity index and information about diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The winter severity index, as the name implies, is a measure of how severe the previous winter was. For each day with over 18 inches of snow pack on the ground and for each day with a below zero high temperature, the index increases by one point. If both conditions are met on the same day, the index increases by two points. The higher the number, the more severe the winter is said to be. The Winter Severity Index is one of the main drivers of deer herd health in the Northwoods.
Another metric measured is deer impacts. This includes data on things such as forest regeneration, agriculture damage and numbers of vehicle collisions.
Hunter dynamics are also listed in the deer metrics system. Information here is collected through hunter surveys and deer observation surveys. All of these metrics are taken into account when CDACs are setting goals and creating their season structure for their county.
The third objective included in the charter is to take all of the information from the public as well as the deer metrics system and create a recommendation to send to the department regarding antlerless quotas and any other available herd management strategies in the county.
These recommendations will then be presented to the NRB, which works in an advisory capacity to the DNR. The NRB will review this year's recommendations at their June 21 meeting.
All are welcome to attend the in-person meeting in their county of choice or to choose the virtual/Zoom option for each meeting.
In-person and virtual meetings in the Northwoods
In Oneida County, the meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on May 5, at the DNR Service Center, 107 Sutliff Avenue, Rhinelander. The call in phone number is 1-305-224-1968. Those wishing to attend the meeting via Zoom can do so by using meeting ID: 864 8746 7201.
The Vilas County CDAC meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on May 1, at the Boulder Junction Town Hall. Those wishing to call in to the meeting can dial 1-646-931-3860. Those wishing to attend via Zoom can input meeting ID: 812 2949 6504.
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