Parks in Princeton Township were among the areas selected for the deer-culling operation.
By: David Weinstein
Several municipal and county sites in Princeton Township, including public parks, were identified Friday by the township as sites where deer can be shot by hired sharpshooters.
When asked, Princeton Township Police Chief Anthony Gaylord Police and Mayor Phyllis Marchand said Monday that safety is a priority but declined to offer any description of the precautions being taken.
Three parks in the northeast section of the township Autumn Hill Reservation, Barbara Smoyer Memorial Park and Herrontown Woods Arboretum are included on a list released Friday. Mountain Lakes Reserve, located off Route 206 and between The Great Road and Cherry Valley Road two of the most deer-trafficked roads in the township also is included.
Three other locations, identified only by their block and lot numbers in accordance with the township tax map, may also be used by sharpshooters, the township press release said.
The release further stated that the Police Department "will provide security by directly supervising the removal activities and patrolling the parks while removal operations take place."
Township and county officials were not available Monday, President’s Day, to identify the three unnamed properties or describe the safety precautions that are being taken.
Chief Gaylord said the township and its hired sharpshooting firm, White Buffalo Inc. of Hamden, Conn., have fulfilled all safety obligations under county and state regulations. He declined to talk specifically about safety "tactics" his department will use during the shooting, but said, "As far as safety for residents is concerned, all appropriate measures will be taken. This is what we do every day protect citizens."
Though she said she could not guarantee an accident-free deer-management program, Mayor Marchand said the township and White Buffalo have complied with every regulation at the state, county and local levels.
"This is not White Buffalo’s first operation," she said. "I have been assured and am comfortable that this will be undertaken in absolute safety and will benefit the public. This is about public interest and safety in the first place."
Shooting at the sites is slated to occur after dusk, when the parks are closed, according to the press release issued Friday by the township clerk’s office.
Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study were contacted recently by White Buffalo for possible use of their lands for sharpshooting activities. The issue is essentially dead at the university, spokeswoman Pam Hersh said Monday, as White Buffalo has not followed up on initial contact it made almost three weeks ago.
Attempts to reach a spokesperson at the Institute for Advance Study on Monday were unsuccessful.
Township officials have been tight-lipped about the number of private landowners who have volunteered their land for deer-culling activities. They have said simply that they are pleased with the number who have come forward.
"Tony DeNicola (head of White Buffalo) has spoken with, and made himself available to residents with concerns over the program," Mayor Marchand said Monday.
Residents throughout the township whose properties are within 450 feet of possible bait-and-shoot sites received township notices Thursday on the impending deer shooting. Neither township officials nor White Buffalo will say exactly when the shooting is to begin, but the township’s contract with the firm and its state permit specify that culling activities will take place during six weeks of intermittent shooting that must end by March 31.
Princeton Township received its deer-management permit to institute the baiting and shooting of deer as a population-management plan in December, when the state Fish and Game Council, a sub-board of the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, approved its plan.