Quibbling Over Statistics

To the Editor:

It was a pleasure to see lawyer Mark Alexander make such great progress in last week’s edition. [“Deer Culling Will Cost Real Money,” Letter Hive, 8/6/09.]

Boiling it down, he made it completely clear that he understands the deer overpopulation problem in Newtown is very large, and will cost substantial funds to deal with.

As he went on, while quibbling with the Lyme disease statistics, he also conceded that Lyme disease is a very serious problem here in Newtown and in Connecticut.

Amen, and amen! We can only hope he will see the benefits of putting aside debate and getting started to find effective, practical solutions for both these problems.

Mr Alexander last year labeled me “deer cull advocate” and he was highly inaccurate, because the kind of deer management programs I mentioned last October are actually called “controlled hunting.” In controlled hunting, a town supervises hunters who generally follow the sport hunting rules, but with certain exceptions (mostly measures that enhance safety).

At the July 29 selectmen’s session, I brought word of an entirely different service and this does indeed qualify as a “cull.” It would never be confused with a form of hunting by anyone knowledgeable.

I did not “advocate” a cull, so much as to state that it is one of our town’s options.

What I said was, this service is available from the federal government, via USDA/APHIS Wildlife Services and it not only removes deer efficiently, but also gives the town a complete report including deer population assessment and the wide range of potential remedies.

In other words, rather than Newtowners getting into a long debate about a deer management plan, we could just engage the feds to prepare one. Fees for this documentation phase run from about $3,000 to about $8,000. The cost of the actual deer removal, while not calculated on a per-deer basis, can average out to about $150 to $200 per deer.

But, recall that last fall, we brought up controlled hunting, in which volunteer hunters donate their time and only ask for the cost of the venison processing to be covered (about $65 to $70 per deer). At that time, Mr Alexander shouted “cull.” Now he is hearing about a real cull, and the thing he first balks at is the cost.

Last fall Mr Alexander called it “wildly misleading” when I reported the CDC’s numbers for Lyme disease in Connecticut. This 71 percent increase in Lyme cases, from 2006-2007 (which I accurately reported), he now labels an “uptick” because he can no longer dispute it. Now he sees room to quibble about the 2007-2008 numbers. But again, I rely on what the Connecticut Department of Public Health reported to the CDC, which is that Lyme cases increased 27 percent. Again, if Mr Alexander wants to quibble, he can quibble with the CDC or the CT DPH.

David A. Shugarts

Member, Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force Newtown Liaison, Fairfield County Municipal

Deer Management Alliance

19 Wendover Road, Newtown                                     August 11, 2009