Ferrysburg looks at impact of deer on dunes preserve

Mon, Aug 31, 2009    to del.icio.us

With the debate over deer and what to do with them spreading across the area, some local leaders are concerned with plants other than those found in local gardens.

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Ferrysburg City Councilman Tim Scarpino worries about the impact deer are having on the fragile dune ecosystem at the Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve, which is located within the city of Grand Haven but owned by Ferrysburg.

Deer paths through the 115-acre preserve are eroding the landscape, he said, and the deer are eating rare plants found only in the dunes. And there are more deer in the area of the preserve than there have ever been, Scarpino said.

"I think that's undisputed," he said. "The problem is what to do with them."

"Taking them all out"

Deer have been slowly stripping the forest understory of native plants — according to William Martinus, a local environmental consultant who has compiled natural features inventories for Kitchel-Lindquist, the North Ottawa Dunes in Ferrysburg and others across the state.

Many plants found in great numbers at Kitchel-Lindquist in an inventory taken by a group from Grand Valley State University in the 1970s were not found in a recent search, Martinus said. Presently, there is little to no regeneration of tree seedlings or saplings, he added, and the remaining plants often show few blooms.

"As of right now, there's almost nothing native in the understory," Martinus said. "We don't even know if the seeds of the plants are there anymore."

The deer eat all dune tree saplings and seedlings that are native to Michigan, Martinus said — including maple, oak, beech, cherry, basswood, cedar and the rare butternut.

"They'll even eat pine," he said. "They're just taking them all out."

The native plants are being replaced in the forest's understory by non-native and often invasive species that the deer won't eat. Species like garlic mustard, which emits a chemical that kills fungus — a key in providing nutrients for most tree species — are moving in, Martinus said.

But the problem isn't just isolated to the Grand Haven area.

"It's not a local problem," Martinus said. "It's a statewide problem."

The environmental consultant said he recalled doing a study on the Manitou Islands at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in the northern Lower Peninsula where the difference between the plant life on each island was remarkable.

Plants flourished on South Manitou Island where there are no deer, Martinus said, but the overpopulation of deer on North Manitou stripped everything within reach.

"The comparison between the islands is just amazing," he said.

Eventually there was nothing left on North Manitou Island, and the deer became so hungry they waded out into Lake Michigan to eat dead alewives floating in the water, Martinus said.

But after removing nearly the entire herd on North Manitou, the deer population is now kept under control by coyotes, Martinus said — unlike in the Tri-Cities area where most natural predators have been removed.

"The car is probably the biggest predator," Martinus said.

What can be done

But what can be done to ensure the native plants at places like the Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve or North Ottawa Dunes are able to regenerate? The simple answer, according to Martinus, is to reduce the deer herd to a sustainable level or below. If not, the forests will not regenerate and their makeup will eventually drastically change.

"We are in danger of losing our entire local dune ecosystem," Martinus said. "Every year we wait, the situation gets more severe."

But how to reduce the deer herd is the major sticking point; and, unfortunately, there's no easy answer.

Using an integrated combination of deer management tactics such as exclusionary fencing, scent repellents, scare tactics, hunting and controlled shooting is usually the best way, said Department of Natural Resources wildlife habitat biologist Nik Kalejs.

"It's really a constant integration where you're applying all those techniques simultaneously," he said. "There may not be one answer that's right."

Clouding the matter even more is that there is not one solid reason why there are so many deer. One problem is the extreme adaptability of the deer, Kalejs said. Deer have adapted to the changes in their environment, such as an increased number of humans moving into rural areas and new food sources presenting themselves.

"Deer have a remarkable ability to adapt," Scarpino said. "Plants that they shun today, they may eat in two to three years."

Another reason for the increase in the deer population could be a decrease in the number of hunters — the traditional deer-control method. According to DNR statistics, the number of people purchasing a hunting license has declined over the past 10 years.

"There's not one nice reason why there are so many deer," Kalejs said. "It's certainly not an answer that's nice and neat."

Scarpino, a member of the Kitchel Lindquist Dunes Preserve Committee, wants all options — including culling — left on the table. But he also wants to extend the discussion out of Ferrysburg.

"We can't solve it alone," he said. "Grand Haven can't solve it alone. You need a partnership with your neighbors."

To get things started, the Ferrysburg City Council authorized the creation of an ad-hoc committee to research the deer issue. Scarpino joined fellow council members Dan Ruiter and Regina Sjoberg in agreeing to sit on the committee; and the city will be advertising for positions soon, City Manager Craig Bessinger said.

The bigger the area attempting to manage the deer, the better, said Kalejs. The Tri-Cities area can share resources, he said, and it's easier to track deer over a larger area.

"The more broadly you can roll out a plan, the better the chances of success," he said.

Deer controls generally tend to work best when municipalities involve their citizens in the discussion and form a consensus as to what to do, Kalejs added.

But Scarpino will admit that there are conflicting opinions even on the Kitchel Lindquist Committee.

There are some that want to take options like organized hunts off the table, Scarpino said, but the most important thing now is to have the local communities recognize this as a problem and then put all options on the table.

"The less that is done now, the more that will have to be done later," he said. "The sooner people get involved the better."