Dear Editor:
Congratulations to Al Miller and the Invermere council for taking a stand and allowing the deer cull to proceed. It is refreshing to see people who understand how to manage wildlife numbers and have the courage to pass a motion that will help control the deer numbers in Invermere thus preventing an overpopulation from taking place.
We (the citizens of Invermere, B.C. and much of North America) have lost the ability to think rationally about the survival of our wildlife. We have encouraged the protection and control of the deer’s natural enemies (wolves, cougars and bears) and at the same time expanding our footprint of residential and industrial development into areas that have been available to our wildlife in the past.
Deer, and some cases elk, have moved into villages and towns for several reasons. The pressure from predators is almost non-existent in town and food is easily accessed. Most now are several generations from knowing how to live outside the town boundaries.
We have tried to live trap and move these deer, but these efforts have failed because of resident interference and the cost of moving them. Also, the deer often returned to the towns or died from predation. We cannot continue to have more and more deer in town without some form of control.
It would be appropriate for the Deer Protection Coalition and its followers to take a positive approach and try to help the problem rather than spending their time, money and energy on the negative approach. Many of us in this valley have spent a large part of our life working on improving and purchasing habitat for these animals. We have relocating both sheep and elk and helping secure critical habitat by donating money to partners such as the Nature of trust of B.C. and Nature Conservancy of B.C. These large areas are now protected from further infringement from residential and industrial development.
Hopefully, those people that are opposed to the deer cull will get their heads around the fact that a healthy herd of deer will not result from an environment that allows unlimited expansion of numbers. Should they adopt this idea then they can help solve the problem. There are several local organizations in the valley working towards securing and improving habitat for wildlife like the Lake Windermere Rod and Gun Club and the Canal Flats Wilderness Club.
Bill Dubois, Invermere
