Washington County Weekend Post

I n-person County Deer Advisory Council (CDAC) meetings have been canceled due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, but the public can still participate in setting the deer season structure by listening to a conference call and submit- ting comments online. There are three steps involved for setting the structure of the deer season. First, each CDAC establishes a recommenda- tion for its county. This includes a preliminary rec- ommendation followed by a public comment period and then a final recommenda- tion to the Department of Natural Resources. The DNR either approves the recommendation or makes changes before those recommendations are sent to the Natural Resources Board. The NRB can approve or change the rec- ommendations based on public feedback or new information. That process has to start in late March or early April so the regulations can be published before archery deer season starts in September. Each county phone con- ference meeting will take place at the time it was orig- inally scheduled. Citizens who wish to participate can use a call-in number and passcode to listen to the meeting. Due to challenges of an "open mic," the public will not be able to comment during the call, but they will be able to provide com- ments online from April 16- 29. It is uncertain at this time if the second round of CDAC meetings scheduled for May will be held in per- son or if those meetings will be done by conference call. A DNR biologist will record a presentation for each county with informa- tion on past harvest num- bers, habitat metrics and season options available. The recordings will be available on the DNR web- site Thursday. Citizens can participate in more than one CDAC meeting. If you live in southeast Wisconsin, but hunt in northern Wiscon- sin, you can provide com- ments for the county you live in and for any other county. The Washington County meeting will be held at 6 p.m. March 31. The call-in is number (855) 947-8255 with passcode 8257-105#. The Ozaukee County meet- ing is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 1. The call-in is num- ber (855) 947-8255 with pass- code 9656-506. Waukesha County's meeting will be held at 6 p.m. April 6. The call-in is number (855) 947-8255 with passcode 7407- 385#. The call-in numbers and passcodes for other county meetings are listed on the DNR website. The starting date and length of the deer season is set by the DNR and the NRB per parameters set by the state legislature. The CDAC will decide on the number of antlerless deer harvest authorizations to be issued per license, how many public and private land bonus antlerless harvest authorizations should be made available, should there be an antlerless-only holiday hunt and, if a holiday hunt is held, should the archery deer season be extended to the end of January. Each CDAC includes nine citizen representatives. The chair and alternate chair are from the county's Conservation Congress del- egation. The other CDAC members represent stake- holders from agriculture, forestry, tourism, trans- portation, local urban gov- ernment, hunting organiza- tions and the Deer Manage- ment Assistance Program. The DNR has representa- tives from forestry, law enforcement and wildlife management on the CDAC. The DNR representatives are there to provide infor- mation and answer ques- tions. They do not vote on the recommendations. Every three years, each CDAC commits to a goal to maintain, reduce or increase the deer popula- tion in its county. In 2018, Washington and Waukesha county CDACs established a goal to maintain the popula- tion. Ozaukee County set a goal to decrease the popula- tion. This fall, a CDAC meeting will be held to decide on the population goals for 2021-2023. For more information on CDACs and to view deer herd metrics for any county in Wisconsin go to the DNR website and type "CDAC" in the search window. See more hunting and fish- ing photos and news on Facebook at Larry Polenske Outdoors. Comments or ideas for this column are also welcome. GMTODAY.COM SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020 • WASHINGTON COUNTY POST • 3A Larry Polenske for the Daily News A Department of Natural Resources biologist will prepare a recording with harvest information for each County Deer Advisory Council meeting. County Deer Advisory Council meetings canceled OUTDOORS Huntin' For Fun LARRY POLENSKE SERVICES Place your ad 24/7 @ www.gmtoday.com/classifieds .COM Southeast Wisconsin HIRE A PRO

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