94 N. Main Street, Jasper, GA - (706) 253-2457
Some homeowners of gated community infuriated, accuse board of
mismanagement and inadequate research
The gated community of Bent Tree has just undergone its first deer culling, where 54 deer were shot by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) to thin a herd wildlife officials say became too large for the residential area.
But some property owners in the community vehemently opposed the killing, which took place Monday, March 14 through Wednesday, March 16. They accuse the Bent Tree Board of Directors of not backing up the cull with enough research, of improperly conducting the herd survey, of not attempting to manage the herd with alternative methods, of mismanaging funds to pay for the cull and, in some cases, of wanting to eliminate the wildlife in Bent Tree for the sake of saving “fancy yards and flowers” from becoming deer food.
Over the three-day cull, Mitch Yeargin of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said he was called out to subdue conflicts that may have arisen from Bent Tree residents opposed to the kill.
Read the rest of this story in our print edition on sale now at these area locations.
Comments
I fully believe something had to be done. Spending close to $10,000 to slaughter the animals is ridiculous. For that amount of money, some time could/should have been taken to find the most friendly of the deer a different home (perhaps Amicalola Deer Park?). I'm certain the board could have found local hunters to take care of the most sickly deer for free.
With that being said, I wonder if protocols were enforced so that only the most sickly deer were harvested so as to improve herd in years to come. For $10,000 and the angst of the community, I hope this was a consideration.
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