Annual deer cull coming to Fire Island, William Floyd Estate
Deer near the Robert Moses State Parkway on Fire Island. A total of 98 deer were killed in 2024, the last year for which numbers were available: 45 deer at the William Floyd Estate and 53 on other public lands on Fire Island, the National Park Service website says. Credit: Barry Sloan
An annual deer cull on Fire Island and at the William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach will take place this month, the National Park Service said Friday in a news release.
Specific dates were not disclosed for the cull, which has faced protests and lawsuits in recent years from animal welfare organizations.
Federal authorities said the cull is needed to protect other species of wildlife and promote "a balanced ecosystem."
"White-tailed deer damage plants and eat most native plant species. Having an overabundance of deer in these areas shrinks the size of our forested areas and prevents forest regeneration," the release said.
Fire Island National Seashore officials did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment. The agency supervises public areas of Fire Island and the William Floyd Estate.
Deer culls have taken place nearly annually since at least 2019.
This month's cull will be carried out by "highly qualified wildlife professionals," and public areas will be closed while it takes place, the park service's release said.
Last year, "trained firearm experts" were hired to kill deer, the park service's website says, adding that the shooters discharge weapons from at least 500 feet from any homes.
Venison from the culls is typically donated to local food banks, parks officials have said.
A total of 98 deer were killed in 2024, the last year for which numbers are available — 45 deer at the William Floyd Estate and 53 on other public lands on Fire Island, the National Park Service website says.
Culling opponents, such as D.J. Schubert, a senior wildlife biologist with Washington, D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute, say there are better ways to thin the population than killing deer.
“We are unalterably opposed to the ongoing culling program" on Fire Island, Schubert said Friday in a phone interview. “It’s entirely unnecessary and there are nonlethal alternatives.”
Schubert said park service officials for a time used immunocontraception, which deploys vaccines to block reproduction, to thin the deer herds. But a 15-year pilot program by the park service and Humane Society of the United States was discontinued in 2009 when federal authorities said the humane society's vaccine was "unacceptable" because it didn't last long and lacked federal approval.
“It’s unfortunate the park service has essentially given up on something that‘s safe and it’s effective,” Schubert said.
A federal court ruling last August allowed the park service to fence off large parts of Fire Island's Sunken Forest Preserve and to continue to cull the area’s deer.
The New Jersey-based conservation group Wildlife Preserves, which had helped preserve the land, had sued federal authorities, arguing they violated conditions of the donation, which prevents activities "that would adversely affect either the flora or the fauna."
Judge Alison Nathan, writing for the 2-1 majority on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, said the government "may take some adverse steps against a single species for the net benefit of the wider ecosystem."
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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