Outside media coverage of Mill Creek MetroParks

Mill Creek Park deer plan shot down

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Nick Derico, natural resources manager for the Mill Creek MetroParks, told about 70 people attending Monday’s MetroParks Board meeting that he is proposing the park board carry out a deer removal program under the Ohio Department of Natural Resource Division of Wildlife.

One part would be “controlled hunting” and would involve hunting at “select MetroParks regional facilities throughout the county where it is deemed safe and appropriate.”

That type of deer reduction would involve “select hunters through a random lottery system conducted by the ODNR Division of Wildlife,” the MetroParks said in a press release given to reporters Monday.

Another part would be a “targeted removal program” that would happen at “select MetroParks facilities where controlled hunting is not deemed feasible due to safety concerns,” the MetroParks statement said.

That type of deer reduction would involve “professional marksmen” in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The more than two-hour meeting included 40 minutes of information on the proposed deer reduction program and about 90 minutes of public participation with each person getting three minutes to speak.

The statements during the public-comment period suggested that most of the public does not want to see the number of deer reduced. Many said they believe the park has far fewer than 387 deer per square mile.

Lee Frey, MetroParks Board president, said the board will vote on whether to implement the program at the 6 p.m. April 10 board meeting at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield, where Monday’s meeting took place.

The goal of the program would be to reduce the deer populations to within recommended densities and to restore plant life previously damaged by the “over browsing and other negative impacts associated with an overabundance of white-tailed deer,” the parks system states.

Derico and Aaron Young, MetroParks executive director, have said that the park district has an average of 387 white-tailed deer per square mile in the park system. The number is 355 deer per square mile in Mill Creek Park, which occupies land from Fellows Riverside Gardens to U.S. Route 224.

They have said the data came from an aerial survey carried out in on two dates in early January 2022.

Among the most passionate speakers was Pearl Sinistro, who told the park board members to “listen to the taxpayers. We pay you, our tax dollars.”

“We love the animals. They’re harmless. They’re timid. They don’t do anything. They come in the yard. We feed them.”

She said people who complain that the deer eat their flowers should move to the city.

She said it’s wrong to “blacktop everything” because it shows no respect for nature.

Kathy Maine spoke with emotion about her attachment to specific deer and the deer in general.

“With the ugliness in this world, the wars, the killings, the bombings, why can’t we have something God given that is so beautiful and so heavenly,” she said. “Life is so short. We don’t need to make it shorter for those beautiful deer.”

Michael Colyer said he has gone to Mill Creek Park after work to spend time in nature.

“We need to preserve the whole fauna and protect the trees that protect the birds and everything else. The deer eat all of our gum trees,” he said.

 

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

Data on Mill Creek Park deer under fire

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Mill Creek MetroParks has completed a survey of the deer population in Mill Creek Park and its other properties and has found that it is 19 times higher than the “carrying capacity of the land.”

Nick Derico, MetroParks natural resources manager, said having an average of 387 white-tailed deer per square mile in the park system, including 355 per square mile in Mill Creek Park, indicates “a very serious problem.”

Derico said the recommended density of white-tailed deer is 10 to 20 deer per square mile.

“We have too many deer in relation to available MetroParks property in terms of habitat,” he said.

Derico talked with the MetroParks board and public about the matter Feb. 13, and it will be discussed again March 13, when Derico will make recommendations to the park board on what to do.

In the meantime, the public is encouraged to provide its input on the issue at the www.millcreekmetroparks.org/white-tailed-deer-in-mill-creek-metroparks page on the MetroParks website.

Derico said overpopulation of deer has “significant negative impacts to both the health of the deer population and the ecological biodiversity of the land as well as increased human conflicts,” such as coming into contact with motor vehicles.

A key part of data collection was an aerial, infrared survey carried out at night from an airplane Jan. 21, 2022, in Mill Creek Park and Jan. 26, 2022, in the rest of the MetroParks’ facilities.

The MetroParks has published the results in detail, including specific information on Mill Creek Park — from Fellows Riverside Gardens south to U.S. Route 224 in Boardman. It also includes specific results for the Hitchcock Woods and Huntington Woods areas south of Route 224, and 12 other MetroParks properties throughout the county.

The results show that the highest densities are in the Huntington Woods just south of Route 224 at 592 deer per square mile, Yellow Creek at 674 deer per square mile, Sebring Woods at 607 deer per square mile, Sawmill Creek at 540 deer per square mile and Cranberry Run headwaters at 450 deer per square mile.

Derico said no decision has been made on what to do about the high numbers of deer, but MetroParks officials are discussing that with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which is “the managing authority for wildlife in the state.”

ODNR has indicated options for reducing the deer population include allowing hunters to reduce the population or another type of “targeted removal beyond hunting.”

 

THE WHITE DEER

Aaron Young, MetroParks executive director, said whatever decision is reached, he does not anticipate any herd-reducing activities to affect the three white deer that have been identified in Mill Creek Park, two females and a male.

Derico said two conditions can cause either a full or partial lack of pigment in white-tail deer. One is albinism, in which a deer has an all-white coat, white or see-through hooves, an all-pink nose and pink or pale blue eyes.

He said the three white deer in Mill Creek Park can be described that way.

The second condition is what are called leucistic deer, which have a “partial loss of pigment. They can have an all-white coat, but they commonly retain some level of normal pigmentation in their hooves, noses or in their eyes,” Derico said.

“They would be white deer with normal looking brown eyes,” he said. “That is not the case we are seeing.”

But without genetic testing, which the MetroParks has not done, the park system cannot say for sure whether Mill Creek Park’s white deer are albino, Derico said.

Both types of white deer have “recessive genes and should be very rare” and indicate a problem with the deer population, Derico said.

“The frequency with which that recessive gene is being seen in our herd points to poor genetic diversity, which is caused by inbreeding over time.” It is not an indication that the white deer in the park are unhealthy, Derico said.

The typical prevalence of white deer in a herd is 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 30,000 deer, but for Mill Creek Park to have three of them in a population of about 903 suggests poor genetic diversity, Derico said.

The survey indicated 2,935 deer roamed the MetroParks in January 2022.

Derico said overpopulation of deer in the park is “not necessarily” to blame for possible poor genetic diversity. “It’s more showing there may not be a lot of immigration or emigration in the population at the north end of the park.”

He said, “As the population grows and there is no new genetic material coming into the population, inbreeding is taking place and these rare recessive genes are being seen more frequently.”

Derico has a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries science from the former California University of Pennsylvania, now known as Pennsylvania Western University, in California, Pa., south of Pittsburgh.

He said the point is that the “frequency of these rare genetic conditions is concerning in terms of genetic diversity.”

He said the park has had “numerous” white deer over the years and generally has had one or two born each spring.

Young said a concern is that with the lack of genetic diversity in the north part of Mill Creek Park, inbreeding may be affecting the health of the deer. “Inbreeding over time can cause other genetic issues,” Derico said. Among them are chronic wasting disease, epizootic hemorrhage disease, Lyme disease and other tick-born pathogens, according to a MetroParks presentation.

Jamey Emmert, spokeswoman for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, told this newspaper last summer that “White deer are a product of a recessive gene in both the mother’s and father’s DNA, which result in white offspring. This recessive genetic trait is found in about 1 percent of all white-tail deer.”

 

ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE

But other factors suggest overpopulation of deer in MetroParks properties, Derico said.

A big one is the ecological damage to plants. Deer feed on a variety of woody and herbaceous plants but have preferred species they like to eat, like spring wildflowers, Derico said.

“When deer are overabundant, they gravitate toward those preferred species and disproportionately impact those species, effectively removing them from the landscape,” Derico said. “Oftentimes what are left are plants that are unpalatable to deer.”

It leads to a high prevalence of invasive species, he said. Overpopulation of deer also leads to a “browse line” where the deer have eaten the vegetation from about 5 feet down.

“They can strip the forest understory of growth,” Derico said. “As sapling trees begin to grow, they get browsed to the ground and killed immediately, so there is no intermediate story of succession coming up through our forest right now. So we are missing an entire generation of forest growth right now due to deer browsing.”

The MetroParks has been experimenting in Hitchcock Woods for five years with a deer-proof enclosure to show what the park would look like if deer were not able to browse.

“We’re seeing ecological damage throughout all of our properties,” he said. “As the MetroParks, we’re stewards of the land. It’s our responsibility to manage these properties in the best interest of all species to promote biodiversity and encourage native species.”

He said deer overbrowsing is a problem throughout the nation, “so many people think that is completely normal and they just don’t realize what it really should be like.”

When plant life is negatively affected, it “affects a multitude of other species, mammals, birds, infections, amphibians … because they’re missing habitat,” Derico said. A bird called the wood thrush used to nest in the MetroParks, but they don’t anymore “because their habitat is gone,” he said. “That’s just one example.”

When Derico was asked about the point of view some people may have that enjoying the deer is the most important thing, Derico said “It’s our job … to protect these parcels and it’s important now for future generations. What will happen to future generations if there is no forest succession?” Derico said.

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

Deer count is overestimated, wildlife watcher argues

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Mill Creek MetroParks’ deer numbers are wrong, Mickey Drabison of Youngstown said.

He led a group of people on a walk in Mill Creek Park on Feb. 19 to look at the deer population after they heard MetroParks officials talk about overpopulation of deer. The group plans another walk today.

He said the reason for the walks is to show people and let them decide for themselves whether the deer are overpopulating. He said he believes the number the MetroParks has given — 387 per square mile — is not accurate.

He thinks the number is much less.

The group will be back out again today from 10 a.m. to noon for another look starting near the parking areas across from the Mill Creek Golf course, which is on West Golf Drive.

The group previously walked north of the golf course near the Morley Pavilion and the Lily Pond and did not see deer, but Drabison said the area near the golf course has more. He said the area where the group walked Feb. 19 generally has two herds of five deer each. “And another group of six that come up and do their eating.”

He was surprised his group did not see any deer, but noted dogs do scare them off.

Drabison, who lives close to the park, said he has walked nearly every day in the park for the past 10 years. He said he typically sees about 15 or 20 deer in a few herds.

“I follow the white deer,” he said. A white deer named Faith is in that area, he said.

He said 387 deer in a square mile “comes down to 10 herds of 38 deer per square mile. I’ve never seen deer like that in this place. There are deer, but their number is not quite right, in my opinion,” Drabison said of the MetroParks.

“These people out here see it. I see it,” Drabison said of the real number of deer. He said he does not have personal knowledge of the deer population south of U.S. Route 224.

He said he is familiar with area from McCollum Road to Shields Road and thinks there are maybe 100 deer in that area, which is about 4 miles long.

“I could walk you or draw you a map and show you right where they are at. You could go there and see the deer I am talking about. That’s it,” he said. He thinks more are south of Shields Road near the golf course, where he saw a herd of about 16 deer about a month ago.

“That’s the biggest herd I’ve ever seen there,” Drabison said. “The rest are maybe six or seven walking around together.”

 

ALBINO OR NOT

Drabison said he disagrees if the MetroParks is saying that the white deer in Mill Creek Park are albino deer. “There is not an albino deer in the park. There hasn’t been,” he said.

A leucistic deer can be all-white coat — but commonly retain some level of normal pigmentation in their hooves, noses or in their eyes.

One named Queenie died in 2021 at Schenley Avenue and Bear’s Den Road. Drabison found the deer after it died. He saw her born — one of 11 deer he has seen born in the park. Her death was related to not being able to birth a calf.

“The deer trust me,” he said.

Queenie was not an albino because she had yellow eyes, Drabison said. She was healthy except for a two-week issue with parasites.

Drabison said he believes the presence of a white deer like Queenie does not indicate any genetic issues that would suggest overpopulation of deer, because he believes white deer are “just like the brown deer” in their health.

He’s heard the argument that vegetation is being destroyed by the deer, but doubts that, too. The only type of damage he hears about or observes, he said, is deer coming into yards and eating flowers.

Drabison said he thinks the MetroParks is making plans to reduce the deer population to get money from allowing hunters to reduce the herd.

 

COUNTERPOINT

Nick Derico, MetroParks natural resources manager, was asked about Drabison’s opinion about the park district’s data on the number of deer.

A key part of data collection was an aerial, infrared survey carried out at night from an airplane Jan. 21, 2022, in Mill Creek Park and Jan. 26, 2022, in the rest of the park’s facilities.

Derico said the type of survey done for the MetroParks numbers has been “used for years, even the late 1900s,” and in the 2000s the park district did the same type of survey.

He said the surveyor who provided the data “went painstakingly for months, going through the data. Each (thermal) signature gets evaluated based on its size, its shape, its habit, meaning if there is a heat signature in the middle of Lake Newport, that’s not a deer. And then deer do give off a distinctive thermal characteristic based on how heat is reflected off of their coats,” Derico said.

He said the thermal imaging camera “can (or) will pick up more than just deer, but each signature was evaluated on its own merit and determined whether it was consistent with a deer.” He said there is a “confidence interval” of 85 percent, meaning the surveyor is “85 percent or more confident in his results,” Derico said.

He said the snow-covered, cold weather the two nights of the survey were ideal for the survey. The surveyor flew at about 1,100 feet, providing “great survey conditions,” Derico said. “We’re confident in the survey numbers. We don’t know what to tell people who don’t believe them.”

Derico noted that people are allowed to be in the MetroParks only during the day, not at night, and deer “are most active in the evening and at dawn and dusk and throughout the night. They bed during the day, typically.” They do sometimes feed even at mid-day but not typically.

“If you are walking in daylight on a trail, as you should be, there are plenty of areas where deer could be obscured from your vision,” Derico said. The way a person might walk in the park “is certainly not a comprehensive look at all areas of the MetroParks.”

When Derico was asked about Drabison’s theory that the MetroParks would reduce the deer herd to make money off of a hunt, he responded: “Absolutely not. Quite the opposite. There is no financial gain for the MetroParks through any of the methods (of reducing the herd.) In fact, it’s cost the MetroParks to gather this survey data and staff time to look into the issue. There is no financial motivation.”

Aaron Young, MetroParks executive director, said that “to imply that we are only looking at the deer overpopulation because of financial gain is simply inaccurate.” Young said the MetroParks will not decide what method would be used to reduce the herd until it hears the input from the public.

The MetroParks is trying to educate the public on this issue through the web site where the public can provide input at www.millcreekmetroparks.org/white-tailed-deer-in-mill-creek-metroparks, Young said.

“The presentation (Derico) gave at the last meeting (Feb. 13) was the culmination of two years of data collection,” Young said.

The MetroParks wants to create a white-tail deer management plan, which exists in many other park districts in northeast Ohio, Derico said.

The MetroParks board again will discuss the issue March 13. Derico will make recommendations to the park board on what to do.

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

Mill Creek MetroParks seeking public assistance in deer population issue

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Mill Creek MetroParks is seeking the public’s input to help with the deer population within the MetroParks.

According to data released by the parks, Mill Creek is averaging 387 deer per square mile. The recommended population density is 10 to 20 deer per square mile.

Yellow Creek Park in Struthers averages the most deer per square mile, with 674, and Sebring Woods following second with 607 deer per square mile.

Data found in the study concluded that the deer population within the park is 19 times the recommended carrying capacity, which can lead to significant negative impacts to both the health of the deer population and the ecological biodiversity of the land as well as increased human conflicts.

Due to the deer population, the parks is working towards the development of a long-term management plan to address the issue, and is asking the community for their input.

To provide input to the park, members of the community can log onto the MetroParks website to provide feedback and comment on the issue.

They also have a QR code available to scan on their website.

Read the original article at WFMJ.

Albino deer signal problem in park’s growing deer population

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Monday night the Board of Park Commissioners for Mill Creek MetroParks met to discuss the area’s growing white-tailed deer population.

During a special presentation, the park’s natural resource manager laid out problems the area is facing because it is beyond the sustainable number of deer.

Some experts think that the population density of deer here in the area is the highest in the state.

Nick Derico has been monitoring the deer population in all the Mill Creek Metro Parks for several years.

Mill Creek MetroParks average 387 deer per square mile. According to a series of studies conducted by the Parks, Yellow Creek Park has the highest population density at 674 deer per square mile.

“That ideal range should be more in the 10 to 20 deer per square mile,” Derico said. “We’re currently the only county park district not addressing the deer populations.”

Derico says he currently knows of three albino deer living in the parks. As much as people love seeing them, their prevalence is an indication of poor herd health and possible inbreeding.

“The white deer is very culturally significant to the area,” Derico said. “They’re very cool to see. Very beautiful. But it should be a very rare sight. Albinism should be one in 20,000 or maybe as high as one in 30,000 deer under normal circumstances.”

The parks are still considering the best ways to lower the deer population. They want input from the public. They will meet again next month to discuss their options.

Read the original article at WKBN.

‘Moments in Time’ photos on display in Weller Gallery at Mill Creek Park

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There’s new art on display at Mill Creek MetroParks this winter.

The display, named Moments in Time, features photographs by the late Dr. W. Gordon.

The exhibit is located within the Weller Gallery inside the Davis Center at Fellows Riverside Gardens in Youngstown.

Gordon’s work captures the world of mankind with natural light while using minimal equipment to capture the subject and tell the story.

He spent his time as a street photographer, responding to what he could find rather than searching for a predetermined subject.

The photos speak for themselves and capture the complexity of everyday life.

The free exhibit is on display through March 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

 

Read the original article at WFMJ.

Multiple improvements set for Mill Creek Park for 2023

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The Mill Creek Metroparks Board of Commissioners met on Monday to discuss many forthcoming improvements to the metroparks.

A PowerPoint presentation sent to 21 News by Mill Creek Metroparks Community Engagement Director, Jaime Yohman details what visitors can soon expect when visiting the metroparks.

One section of the presentation entitled “Strategic Master Plan” features two goals to improve the metroparks’ infrastructure and natural resources respectively.

One goal is to “create an effective capital improvement and maintenance plan to preserve the historical aspects of Mill Creek MetroParks as well as provide a safe and enjoyable experience.”

Another is to “enhance Mill Creek MetroParks’ management of natural resources through improved access of developed trails, opening new parks in underserved areas of the county, and incorporation of a natural resources management plan.”

In addition, the presentation listed several capital improvements coming soon to the metroparks. The list is as follows:

– Annual Road Improvements ($350,000 budgeted). These improvements will be for Chestnut Hill Drive, West Park Drive Phase II and Lily Pond Drive. These will improve vehicular, as well as bicycle and pedestrian traffic, as well as stormwater management. Additionally, the improvements would compliment recent trail and parking lot improvements. Work will include asphalt patching, planing and overlay paving, pavement markings and aggregate shoulders.

–  Annual Parking Lot Improvements ($225,000 budgeted). Improvements will go to the East Golf Hike and Bike Trail parking lot and will expand the number of parking spaces, improve vehicular, bike and pedestrian traffic, improve trailhead amenities and compliment recent trail and parking lot improvements. Work includes excavation, grading asphalt paving and pavement markings, signage bollard and gates. There will also be annual preventative maintenance including crack filling, sealing of asphalt trails and aggregate shoulders alongside park drives.

– Annual Trail Improvements ($229,000 budgeted). Improvements will go to the Mill Creek Park Hiking Trails, the Vickers Nature Preserve and the MetroParks Bikeway. The Hiking Trails will see improvement to trail surfacing, stormwater damage and infrastructure, signage and access. the Nature Preserve will see equestrian trail improvements and the Bikeway will see pavement repair, crack filling and asphalt overlay.

– Annual Signage Improvements ($25,000 budgeted). Improvements include facility signage for regional facilities, as well as Mill Creek Park road names and wayfinding signage for Newport and golf sections.

– Annual Pavilion Improvements ($25,000 budgeted). Improvements will go to the Vickers Nature Preserve and the Bears Den Service Facility. The Nature Preserve will see stable, office and pavilion improvements and the Service Facility will see building and roof repairs.

– Annual Comfort Station and Restroom Improvements ($75,000 budgeted) Improvements include the construction of a new precast concrete vault restrooms for East Golf Hike and Bike Trail. A new CXT restroom will be incorporated into the improved trailhead facility.

– Indoor Golf Training Facility ($350,000 budgeted). There will be three bays with golf simulators, a putting green, a club fitting area, an office, restrooms and a storage area.

– Vickers Nature Preserve Improvements ($350,000 budgeted). Improvements include vehicular, pedestrian and equestrian traffic improvements, a public parking lot, a truck and horse trailer parking lot, frontage treatment and curb appeal, stormwater management infrastructure, trail improvements and native plantings.

– Lanterman’s Mill Site Improvements ($11,000 budgeted). There will be mill entrance and deck improvements including repairs to the mill’s front entrance.

– MetroParks Farm Improvements ($50,000 budgeted). Improvements will be for the NCAA Cross Country Course Phase II and will include enhancements to the course including signage, utilities, markings amenities, final surfacing, etc. It will also provide access for use by public schools.

– Hawkins Marsh Site Improvements ($190,196 budgeted). These improvements will improve accessibility and include aggregate entry drive and parking lots, an improved trail system, habitat restoration and signage, kiosks and benches.

– Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary and Sanctuary Expansion Improvements ($75,000 budgeted). Improvements include habitat improvements, vegetative invasive species control and site and accessibility improvements.

– Collier Preserve Improvements ($20,000 budgeted). Improvements include habitat and site improvements, vegetative invasive species control and accessibility improvements.

– Fellows Riverside Gardens Improvements ($216,000 budgeted). The funds will go towards the Davis Education and Visitor Center, Rose Garden improvements including a children’s garden and FRG site improvements including restroom improvements.

– MetroParks Bikeway – Kirk Road Trailhead: $25,000 Budgeted for concept design.

 

Read the original article at WFMJ.

Nature center praised for upgrades

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Ford Nature Center’s redevelopment project is among the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association’s 2022 annual Awards of Excellence winners.

Mill Creek MetroParks’ Ford center project placed second in the “capital improvement — $2.5 million and up” category of the competition.

These awards are judged by a panel of parks and recreation professionals from around Ohio.

“We are honored to be recognized for this capital improvement project and the vision of bringing enhanced nature education to the community while maintaining the historical and physical presence of the Ford Nature Center,” said Aaron Young, Mill Creek MetroParks executive director.

“With the redevelopment project completed, we are looking to put the finishing touches on the new exhibits and unveiling them to the public very soon.”

The redevelopment project’s main objective is to better serve nature education needs of the community. This was reached through improving, upgrading and expanding the facility’s function, all while maintaining its historical and physical presence.

Reconfiguration of interior spaces was needed to enhance and expand public programming with new and improved interpretive and interactive exhibits, interchangeable displays, and new wayfinding signage.

Improved accessibility was also a prominent change.

The grounds of the Ford Nature Center now strengthen the critical educational and recreational link between Mill Creek Park and the surrounding neighborhood. The connections between nature and humankind are on display both throughout the exterior and interior spaces of the center, officials said.

A new rooftop garden was installed above the new basement exhibit hall. A new wildflower meadow incorporating more than two dozen native flowers and grasses can be viewed from numerous perspectives.

Additionally, the formal landscape incorporated native plant species throughout all of the beds including the Ohio woodland garden and bird viewing area.

The Ohio Parks and Recreation Association strives to provide quality parks and recreation facilities and opportunities for all Ohioans while protecting and preserving Ohio’s natural resources, positively impacting local economies and health and wellness of its citizens.

Mill Creek Park was established in 1891 by Volney Rogers as the first park district in Ohio. In 1989, the diverse lands now known as Mill Creek MetroParks officially became a metropolitan park district. The mission of Mill Creek MetroParks is to provide park, recreational, educational, and open space facilities of regional significance.

 

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

Road work to limit access to portions of Mill Creek MetroParks

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Editor’s note: The headline of this story has been corrected to better describe access to the park during road work. We regret the error.

Work to improve and resurface a park drive in Mill Creek MetroParks will begin on Tuesday.

The northern section of East Newport Drive between Kreider’s Entrance and Kiwatha Drive will be closed to all vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Access to the East Newport Boat Launch and Daffodil Meadow will be prohibited.

Work to be conducted includes cleaning and planing of existing asphalt surfaces and placement of new asphalt pavement courses.

The closure is expected to last about two weeks. In the event of inclement weather, the work schedule will be delayed and adjusted accordingly.

Read the original article at WKBN.