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By Jason Scott, Sentinel Reporter, June 15, 2008

Last updated: Monday, June 16, 2008 7:23 AM EDT

Henry Line figures it will cost close to $300 to anesthetize and move each of the deer trapped on the north side of Interstate 81 and Route 11 between the Nottingham development and Allen Road in Carlisle.

Since his “Save the Deer” letter was published in The Sentinel on June 3, the 92-year-old Carlisle jeweler has received a total of $5,200 in donations from more than 60 people who support his mission to change the borough council’s decision to kill the herd.

“There has to be other ways of moving animals, because people are doing it,” he said, citing places like the Washington and Philadelphia zoos, as well as Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in Dauphin County and Catoctin Wildlife Preserve Zoo in Thurmont, Md. “There is no problem with transporting animals.”

Borough Council signed an agreement on May 8 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cull the herd, which totaled 40 animals in a spring USDA deer study, at a cost of $18,000.

Exel spokesman Lynn Anderson said the company, currently in the process of developing warehouses on the adjacent Royer Farm tract in South Middleton Township, met with USDA and local officials and gave its consent to have the study conducted.

The management plan calls for the harvesting of up to 75 deer from the area using a well-trained wildlife team with infrared vision and silenced weapons.

Last Friday, the borough received approval from the state Game Commission on a political subdivision control permit, said Carlisle Police Chief Stephen Margeson. The permit, a requirement of the state wildlife agency to kill deer outside the regular deer hunting seasons, went into effect on June 3 and runs until June 30, 2009.

“It permits action any time during the permit period,” Margeson said, adding that no activity has taken place yet.

It is obvious that residential development near the borough line and commercial build-up in South Middleton Township have caused the problem, Margeson said.

The deer have simply lost the bulk of their habitat.

However, the borough is at this point because a large number of calls and complaints were received from residents upset about the deer in the developments, he explained.

Property damage and the increased potential of traffic accidents have been credited as the most common complaints received. There has also been one case of Lyme disease in the Valley Meadows development, Margeson said, but there is no proof that it came from the deer herd.

“It was do this or do nothing,” he said. “There is not a lot of in-between.”

According to Margeson, there are 10 times more deer in the borough and immediately adjacent for the amount of land that is there.

Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser has said repeatedly that a “trap-and-transfer” method is not an option.

The only method allowed by the state in these types of situations is culling of the herd, he explained.

“Trap-and-transfer is not a positive solution. It’s not an appropriate means of handling this,” Feaser said. “We recognize that people care about wildlife and, in fact, we benefit from that.”

This small herd will benefit the citizens in the community, he added, because all of the meat is planned to go to Project SHARE in Carlisle to feed those in need.

“Thousands of deer are hit and killed and left go every year in Pennsylvania,” Feaser said. “This is a positive means of making the best out of an unfortunate situation.”

Council President Don Grell expressed similar thoughts.

“I wish there was another way to go,” he said.

The council does not need to authorize any future course of action. By signing the agreement with USDA and receiving the permit from the Game Commission, the decision to go in and kill the deer is now up to USDA.

“We haven’t discussed any additional meetings,” Grell said about the possibility of a town hall meeting.

Open council meetings are held every month for people wishing to express their concerns, he said.

Borough Manager Stephen Hietsch said if the borough is allowed to move the deer, it would just become another person’s problem.

“Only 15 percent of relocated deer survive past the first year,” he said. “Out of those, a significant number seek out another environment like the one they are accustomed to.”

The borough doesn’t want to waste money or do something inhumane, Hietsch said.

Residents have gone a step beyond that with local lawmakers looking into the matter.

State Sen. Pat Vance, R-31, said her office has fielded a number of calls from constituents – most quite emotional about the issue – and they have called the Game Commission about darting the deer.

“Many don’t live,” Vance said. “If they die, you can’t utilize their meat.”

She added: “I do have empathy for their concerns, but it is really a local decision.”

Rep. Will Gabig, R-199, has also received some citizen inquiry regarding the issue recently. His office has worked with Vance’s staff to research the issue, he said.

“We’re not trying to tell the borough what to do. We’ve just been asked to see what, if anything, is out there,” Gabig said.

South Middleton Township Supervisor Tom Faley said he still believes the problem has to be addressed, because there is the potential for an accident. At the same time, though, he said, an alternative method would have been nice to try, at least on a test basis.

“I would have liked to see it given an opportunity,” he said. “Some deer may have survived the test. Maybe it would have been worthwhile to expand.”

Fellow board member Jim Baker said he thinks the township should have been involved in the decision, especially with the Exel warehouses on the old farm tract in South Middleton.

“We haven’t had much to say about it,” Baker said.

In either case, mistakes were made by both the borough and township in not considering the wildlife before approving the development, he added.