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George Smith
Friday, January 28, 2000 Page: 2B
There was no hostile mob, no insulting confrontations, no disrespectful
jeers or brazen booing like there was in March, 1995 at the Tunkhannock Middle
School.
Back then, the Pennsylvania Game Commission made an effort to hold a forum
regarding white-tailed deer management.
I truly feared that disenchanted crowd would erupt in violence.
But there was no hint of the fury and rage that marked the Tunkhannock
meeting Wednesday evening when Gary Alt took the stage at the Early Bird Expo
in Bloomsburg to talk about deer.
Alt, a game commission biologist internationally known for his work with
black bears, was named in August to head the game commission’s deer management
section of the agency’s bureau of wildlife management.
Since then, Alt has been immersed in deer woes that he said have plagued
the state for 70 years.
“In the four months I have been on the job, I have been reviewing the
history of deer management in Pennsylvania.
“Right now, everything is on the table. I may not be the ultimate deer
guy, but I am the guy who can build the ultimate deer team,” Alt said.
Alt has proposed restructuring the state’s deer hunting seasons, which has
drawn criticism.
But his intention, he said, is only to stabilize the herd in 2000.
That should give him and his staff time to develop a sound management plan.
And such a plan, he said, is what the state desperately needs.
Deer, he insists, are destroying our forests. That horrifies him.
“If we cannot get the vote (for the season restructuring), if we cannot
stabilize the herd, the game commission could very well face litigation. And
it would be justified,” Alt said.
He’s serious. The destruction caused by deer could land the game commission
in court.
“The No. 1 issue we face is forest defoliation, or long-term habitat
destruction.
“We have to fix the habitat to avoid this forest ecosystem destruction,”
he said.
That fix better come quick.
“We never controlled deer from the 1920s on. That 90 percent of society
that does not hunt may turn on us. If that happens, I fear for the future of
hunting,” Alt said.
The fix might involve working with other state agencies and stakeholders in
an effort to establish how to revitalize heavily damaged habitat.
“If we can demonstrate how to rebuild habitat, we might be able to double
the deer density in that area within 24 months,” Alt said.
The crowd that packed the small auditorium listened politely as Alt
explained how bad the forest devastation currently is.
And when the lights flickered on and Alt finished his slide presentation,
there were no nasty jeers or boorish confrontations.
Nothing but enthusiastic applause echoed from the room.
Smith may be reached at georges@leader.net or 829-7230.