Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildlife Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CSAC reports mixed public sentiment and no immediate need for lethal deer control; committee recommends monitoring
Summary
The Civic Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) reported it will continue to monitor regional deer-management activity after reviewing Ohio Department of Natural Resources guidance, local collision data and a 2023 resident survey that produced nearly split opinions on management.
Dublin’s Civic Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) told City Council on May 5 that, after a multi-year review, it will continue to monitor deer-management activity rather than recommending lethal control at this time.
Rex Prior and staff member Emily Gulliver summarized CSAC’s work dating to 2022, including a November presentation from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). CSAC said it reviewed regional approaches, Dublin-specific data, and education/outreach undertaken to implement the city’s Outdoor Feed Ordinance (original recommendation adopted via Ordinance 47-23 and later revised by Ordinance 5-24).
CSAC noted ODNR guidance distinguishing biological carrying capacity (the population a landscape can support) and sociological carrying capacity (the population level acceptable to the public), and said ODNR does not track disease at a hyper-local level. CSAC told council that chronic wasting disease has been reported in surrounding counties but not in Dublin; the committee said ODNR indicated Dublin’s deer are not currently exhibiting the most prevalent white-tailed deer diseases.
CSAC reviewed local deer-vehicle incident numbers (carcass pickups reported by staff): 74 in 2022, 84 in 2023 and 93 in 2024. CSAC also referenced a May 2023 resident survey with 297 responses that showed the public nearly split on whether the white-tailed deer population needed management. Based on that data and ODNR guidance, CSAC recommended ongoing monitoring, annual updates to council, and returning with recommendations if regional conditions change.
Council members expressed support for continuing to track regional programs (Worthington has moved toward targeted removal) and asked staff to continue providing data and education; several members requested annual status updates and additional reporting on code-enforcement contacts related to the Outdoor Feed Ordinance.
