Deer feeding onus localized

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Jan. 1, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

About 20 people attended the last of the Department of Natural Resources' informational meetings held Monday in Bemidji concerning a new emergency deer feeding program, according to Area Wildlife Manager Steve Caron.

The meeting, held to inform those who most likely will be involved in future deer feeding efforts, was the last of 14 scheduled meetings held this winter.

The new program, which will shift the burden of operating an emergency deer feed from the DNR to local private, non-profit groups, was established by a DNR-guided work group as directed by the state Legislature.

Since 1997, the Legislature has dedicated 50 cents from the sale of every deer license toward deer feeding, establishing a dedicated fund -- something which hadn't existed in the past.

Eventually money from this fund will be used to repay the $750,000 cost of the 1995-96 emergency feeding program to the state's Game and Fish Fund. The money was essentially borrowed from the fund because no deer feeding funds were previously set aside.

After the $750,000 is repaid through the deer licenses, the amount from a license dedicated to the feed fund will be reduced to 25 cents.

The work group, which consisted of DNR representatives, Minnesota Deer Hunters Association members and a bow hunters group, produced the recommendations for the feed fund.

What's new?

The report, which is a compromise worked out among the DNR and opposing factions, recommends that the DNR continue to purchase feed, but that local non-profit organizations be responsible for the logistics of an emergency deer feed.

For instance, Caron said, a local group such as a MDHA chapter would establish the feed distribution depots, define where and when they will distribute feed and determine how they will distribute feed to the deer.

However, the DNR will still do the purchasing of the feed using the dedicated feed fund, and it will still authorize what parts of northern Minnesota will be allowed to feed, if any.

The compromise plan, devised by the work group, splits the DNR's philosophy that large-scale deer feeding is ineffective and others' feeling that feeding on a smaller scale in populated areas does work.

"The plan is similar to 1996, but instead of the DNR doing everything but loading the feed onto trucks, it shifts some of the burden to local non-profit groups," Caron said. "That frees us up to do other things. But we will still be available to the groups for technical advice."

Caron said the plan allows for the feeding of only deer in permit-size areas of land or bigger. Therefore, the program will not be used for micromanaging small pieces of land.

The DNR will use its Winter Severity Index to determine whether they will allow emergency feeding in an area.

The index will generally have to hit 100 prior to feeding being allowed, and it is measured by totaling the number of days with at least 15 inches of snow and days with temperatures of 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

"The big factor is how deep the snow is. If it gets to 15 inches, or deeper, deer have a hard time moving around and burn up a lot of body fat," Caron said. "But other factors, such as temperature, will also be counted."

It is the hope of the DNR that the program will only be used once or twice a decade to preserve the funds available, according to Caron.

"Our records show over the last few decades there has only been the need for emergency feeding once or twice a decade," he said. "It's not an easy undertaking. Our goal is to do this for the very severe winters."

The program was adopted with two goals in mind, Caron added.

First, so that the state would have a set policy regarding winter deer feeding -- something never developed before.

And second, so that some of the responsibility of such a program would be shifted to the local level, relieving some of the strain on the DNR.

"In the past (a plan) was determined as we went along," Caron said. "Now it will be set."

The information gathered at the meetings, such as the one in Bemidji, will be forwarded to DNR adminstration in St. Paul, Caron said, and more than likely refinements could be made to the program.