'Overabundance' of deer to be hunted at Fire Island National Seashore, officials say

An "overabundance" of deer will be shot and killed at the Fire Island National Seashore’s two Long Island sites beginning on Jan. 3, federal parks officials said.

The latest hunt, the third in a row under a multiyear plan, was criticized by advocates who say the National Park Service wrongly ruled out contraceptives by excluding outside experts from its debates — and that it has failed to recognize advances in the drugs offering far more humane ways to reduce herds.

The Fire Island National Seashore, in its statement issued Saturday announcing the hunt to maintain "a balanced ecosystem," said what it calls fertility control will be used once a drug is developed that meets all the five criteria spelled out in its April 2016 plan.

Alexcy Romero, who became superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore in 2018, said the park service included the public's views in devising its plan and he was willing to meet with advocates to discuss immunocontraceptives.

"To say we didn't go through the proper channels for the public (input), that's not accurate," he said. "I'd be more than happy to sit down and talk with them about the new science."

When the park service relied on contraceptives to manage the deer herd from 1993 to 2009, Romero noted that "multiple treatments" were needed, year after year, which required more staff.

Park service officials previously have said hunts were preferred because they were a swifter solution.

Romero also said the nonprofit White Buffalo Inc. that is again carrying out the hunts sets stringent standards for the sharpshooters it hires.

In its plan, the Fire Island National Seashore said contraceptive drugs must be federally approved and state-registered for wild deer; prove at least 80% effective for three or more years to minimize costs; be delivered remotely; not make the meat unfit to eat; and have minimal impact on deer, including on their behaviors.

New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation in May unveiled its 2021-to-2030 plan for managing deer herds, which says neither of the two main contraceptives "has been registered for use in New York State, so deer can only be treated with them as part of a scientific study."

While the department also is testing surgically sterilizing deer, this method is best-suited, it says, for fenced-in areas or islands as otherwise deer may simply move in.

It added: "DEC will only consider proposals to use immunocontraceptives on deer if they represent research designed to answer new and worthwhile scientific questions."

This winter's hunts at the William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach, which is part of the Fire Island National Seashore, and on federal land on Fire Island itself are scheduled to end on Feb. 28.

The number of deer targeted is much lower than previous years, with only 30 to 60 expected to be shot, Romero said.

Critics of the decision to hire hunters instead of using contraceptives include the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, which says the drugs already meet the requirements.

"Nevertheless, the best available scientific evidence demonstrates that immunocontraceptive vaccines satisfy these criteria," DJ Schubert, wildlife biologist for the Animal Welfare Institute, said by email.

"Consequently, the National Park Service/Fire Island National Seashore should transition from lethal control to the use of immunocontraceptives to control the deer population on the Fire Island National Seashore including William Floyd Estate," he continued.

The Humane Society of the United States, also a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, agreed, saying by email: "In order to better reflect the public wishes for nonlethal management approaches, we think it’s necessary for NPS wildlife managers to take a larger role in bringing humane and effective fertility control tools to our national parks — including active research and collaboration with subject experts as well as preparation for its implementation within our park system overall."

It singled out one of the contraceptive drugs, PZP, as a success, saying it prevents pregnancy in deer 90% of the time, can be delivered with darts, can be reversed, has no "debilitating health side effects" and doesn’t alter deer social behavior — or ruin its meat.

Culling the deer herd is necessary to maintain the Fire Island National Seashore's delicate environment, Romero said.

"The overabundance of white-tailed deer has decreased available habitat for other native species, like turkeys, rabbits, songbirds, and hawks," he said in a statement on Saturday.

Whether another hunt will be needed next year will be assessed later, the superintendent said.

The 2020 hunt ended a couple of weeks early after 230 deer were shot and killed, and their meat donated to food banks, park officials said.