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Residents and commissioners clash over Anaconda urban deer plan; question enforcement, culling and scope
Summary
Anaconda Deer Lodge County commissioners reviewed an Urban Deer Task Force plan. Residents described property damage, sick deer, and tick concerns; commissioners debated whether the proposed plan addresses Washoe Park and other hotspots and whether to send the plan back to the task force for revision or place it on a future agenda.
The Anaconda Deer Lodge County Commission heard a report from the Urban Wildlife Task Force and lengthy public comment about a proposed urban deer-management plan that residents and some commissioners described as inadequate for the town’s problem areas.
Task force materials were presented to the commission and a county attorney noted a citation correction in the document (the meeting record cites Montana statute 7-31-4110). Commissioners and members of the public pressed whether the task force plan properly addresses known hotspots including Washoe Park, the Old Works Golf Course and surrounding residential fringes.
Residents described repeated property damage and stressed or sick animals. "I've never, ever in my life seen a wildlife population that consistently looks with the health of these animals in this town," one commenter said, describing deer climbing snowbanks to eat spruce and visible weight loss in fawns. Several speakers said bad outcomes stem from people feeding deer and urged stronger enforcement of the longstanding state prohibition on providing forage to wildlife.
At least one commissioner urged caution about the proposed plan, arguing it largely represents "status quo" and urged the commission to read an alternative plan prepared with wildlife biologist input before acting. Another commissioner summarized biologist findings presented to the task force and said the local deer density in the study area is about 50 deer per square mile, roughly double an "acceptable" management level the speaker cited as 25 per square mile. That commissioner argued the animals are malnourished, carrying parasites and disease and that the present plan would not adequately address the public-safety and animal-health risks.
Public commenters argued both for stronger, potentially lethal population controls and for nonlethal measures and asked for clearer enforcement mechanisms, funding and defined responsibility for ongoing education. One resident said the task force vote in town had been divided between in-town and out-of-town members and recommended a plan that better reflects the concerns of residents who live inside the city limits.
Procedurally, commissioners discussed placing the plan on a future agenda for a formal vote and several commissioners recommended sending it back to the task force for additional work. At the meeting’s close the commission directed staff to place the task force plan on a future agenda so the commission can vote or provide more detailed direction.
Sources: Urban Wildlife Task Force presentation and multiple public comments to the Anaconda Deer Lodge County Commission.
