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DNR's deer trustee report meeting accessible in live webcast

MADISON — For those unable to attend the Sat., March 9 public meeting on the deer trustee report in Stevens Point, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is making the general session of the meeting available for live online viewing.

The live Webcast of the meeting will be viewable at http://dnrmedia.wi.gov/main/Viewer/?peid=086ffe649e65430890745813ba372a861d.

The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at UW-Stevens Point’s Lee S. Dreyfus University Center, Alumni Room (350). It is the first of seven meetings to develop action items for moving recommendations in the 2012 report forward with the intent of enhancing deer management in the state.

“Participation of the public, tribes, stakeholders and other partners is essential for creating plans that will transform the recommendations of the report into action on the ground,” said Eric Lobner, DNR Deer Trustee Report implementation coordinator. “We encourage people to attend the meetings in person and join an action team, but we want anyone interested to be informed on the process even if they can’t make the meetings.”

The report contains 62 recommendations assembled by Dr. James Kroll, along with Drs. Gary Alt and David Guynn, who were commissioned by the Governor as the state’s deer trustees to perform an objective evaluation of deer management practices.

Four action teams will be formed at Saturday’s meeting to review an area-specific grouping of recommendations pulled from the report. The team focus areas are: Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP); herd health and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD); regulations and seasons; and science and research.

Action team members will meet for the final hour of Saturday’s meeting. This segment of the meeting will not be available for online viewing but proceedings from action team meetings will be available throughout the public input process at dnr.wi.gov.

In addition to the meetings and Webcasts, DNR will launch a survey during the week of March 11 to collect feedback on various aspects of the report with the overarching goal of getting a better understanding of what aspects of the deer management program should change and how.