WHEREAS the increasing population of deer in urbanized and agricultural areas is impacting agricultural crop production and public health and safety due to deer-auto collisions, aggressive deer-human and deer-pet interactions and transmission of disease; AND WHEREAS there is limited funding available to develop comprehensive public education programs needed to augment and support regional and local deer management strategies: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request the Province to provide funding for regional public education programs to support deer management strategies.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Natural Resource Operations The Province believes that no single solution to all urban deer issues exists because every community differs in geography, urban wildlife population and handling capacity for extant wildlife. The Province is committed to partnering with local governments to facilitate the development of socially acceptable urban deer management solutions. Ministry staff assists communities in managing urban wildlife conflicts in a number of ways, including participation on community-based planning committees, provision of technical advice, development of hunting regulations, issuing permits to manage urban wildlife populations and loaning available equipment to communities as required. Several communities have already made good progress in developing community-owned management plans. The Province will continue to work with local communities across the Province to help them manage urban deer conflicts.