Part of the issue here is that the deer are slowly starving to death. There are so many of them that the competition for resources is fierce.

What is happening is that once they have eaten the underbrush they have nothing to eat and start to strip the bark off the trees just to get food. Once the bark gets stripped to an extent the trees cannot properly flow water up and sugar down the tree, so the tree dies anyway. We have to consider then entire ecosystem there, not just Bambi

Respectfully, I would encourage anyone interested to read the following report regarding the effect of deer on a forest.
http://pa.audubon.org/docs/deer_report/DeerManagementForum2005.pdf
You can skip to the "Executive Summary". For those unable to read the whole report the answer is simple. Yes, deer do in fact destroy the forest.

I would like to thank all the people at The Grail for the time and effort they have put into responsible environmental stewardship. The hard work and leadership provided by this organization and their decision to be an active participant with the environment should be admired. As a result our community has been educated on deer and their effect on the environment and the venison donation program has provided over a thousand meals to people in need right here in Orange County.

Questioning a groups spirituality because you disagree with their decision is just not nice. I think a better quote from Saint Francis would be ?Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.?

Jim McGee

My wife's letter is about truth, the truth isn't always "nice."

I thank Mr. McGee (chairman of the local hunting club) for a Franciscan quote about selflessness that can be illustrated by the following: Two people walking in the forest encounter deer browsing for forage. One thinks deer are a nuisance, and a good venison meal; the other feels compassion for the hungry creatures. Who is selfish, and who is selfless?

Regarding spirituality, and, in the spirit of dueling saintly quotes, here's another from the patron saint of animals and the environment: "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching." (Don't talk the talk, unless you walk the walk.) Saint Jerome, the fourth century priest who translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, put it this way, "Facias ipse quod faciamus suades."

Or, to paraphrase Diana's letter: "practice yourself what you preach."

Mr. Mathews -

Let me replace your own scenario back to you - Two people see deer in the forest. One realizes that they are slowly starving to death, a slow and painful death, and realizes that the devastation they cause is an off shoot of this crisis. One wants to control the deer population, not only got the good of the flora, but also so that there are not herds of deer with many slowly dying anyway. The other will not recognize the issue and wants to leave nature to itself. Allowing the deer to starve, and the forest to be stripped - which one is more compassionate towards the animal?

Diana makes a good point. I was the Treasurer on the Board of the Hudson Highland Nature Museum for seven years. During that time we had a report generated on the effects of deer on our forest. The report by Dr. John Hadidian, director of wildlife from the Humane Society of the United States, found that the dense canopy contributed far more to low new growth than deer. In addition, Dr. Schuster of Blackrock Forest has proven that exclosures work well.
The Grail?s plan includes removing some trees to open areas of the canopy and leaving the upper branches on the ground to deter deer. This, along with some exclosures, may allow the growth of new trees; it may be enough ? why not wait and see before continuing this painful method of killing. I can only conclude that the women of the Grail feel the phrase "human kindness" is oxymoronic.

Tom - You are totally correct, the shade created by the canopies of established forest totally blocks out the underbrush. Historically before development we had grey wolves that would hunt the deer and keep down the populations. Since development the grey wolf population has been dampened by efforts to protect people. The deer have no real natural hunters now, and they are so populated they try to get food in any way they can. Not only by eating out of peoples gardens, but they resort to eating bark. Ill refer to my past comment - when the deer starve enough they begin to eat bark, when they strip the bark off a tree it cannot properly shuttle water and sugar supplies and die anyway. Would you guys support efforts to bring back the grey wolf, and then we wont have to worry about human efforts on deer? The deer now have no natural predators, other than the random car accident.

Humans are part of the "natural world" and have been hunting for as long as they've existed. There is NOTHING in Catholic Church teaching that says you can't hunt or eat meat (except on Fridays during lent etc.). Therefore - to make or imply a blanket statement that someone who hunt), or a organization who permits it on their property is somehow not "spiritual" and hypocritical is not at all logical as I see it. Further - to actively manage the forest by taking down many of the larger trees to open up the canopy is likewise commendable. As opposed to the idiot who decided to clearcut on Round Top to enhance their view. And would you prefer that they let the wood from the tree's they culled go to waste, Sorry - but I think this criticism of the Grail is off the mark. Reasonable people can disagree on such issues though - and civility towards one another in such situations is to be encouraged.

My point is simple. The Grail's plan to open the canopy and allow small trees to grow within the top branches left on the ground is a good one. The experiment with exclosures is also a good way to move forward. Why not stop the bow hunting until we know more. Why continue this painful way of hunting when it may not be necessary. Anyone with a modicum of compassion would agree.

Sorry Tom - can't agree with you. To imply that anyone who hunts (can you tell me a NON painful way btw?) lacks "a modicum of compassion" is just plain insulting. Just because people eat meat (whether hunted or purchased from the grocery) doesn't make them incompassionate. This anti-hunting agenda is NOT one that can be fairly imposed on the rest of the population who choose to hunt. This isn't a bunch of yahoos out to slaughter and leave the meat rotting so they can hang trophy heads on their walls. To cull these deer who are clearly over-populating the area and starving is NO less "compassionate".

I couldn't agree with Chuck more. I was fortunate enough to take three deer out of the Village this past fall, two of which would have never made it through the winter that we had because of their small size. They would have either starved to death, or been taken out by the coyotes. I think the one properly placed arrow was a much more dignified end for them. One of the three went to the venison donation program and the other two were consumed by my family. The other issue at hand is that people should really be able to do with their own property as they see fit, provided it is legal which bow hunting is.

I could never be a hunter, but I could never electrocute a beef steer in a slaughterhouse either--or however they do it these days, maybe by electronically controlled neck-slicers, who knows. My wife and I have friends who hunt, and they're some of the most intelligent, compassionate people we know. I think the only people who have a right to declare that hunting is cruel are vegans who wear plastic shoes. The rest of us are hypocrites.

I really like the above comment. Couldn't have said it better myself.

The denuded undergrowth in our area is directly related to the unsustainable deer population. It has little or nothing to do with the canopy. Get real, we do not live in a tropical rain forest. The deer population needs to be brought under control by us, or we need to knock down all our homes, go somewhere else and reintroduce the eastern timber wolf back to the area