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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTiwari, S DEIS.pdf Page 1 of 5 Sandip Tiwari 207 E. Upland Rd Ithaca, NY 14850 Dec. 10, 2010 Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Cayuga Heights, Ithaca, NY 14850 Subject: Comments and Feedback on Deer Management Plan for Cayuga Heights, DEIS, and Dec. 6 Public Hearing This note is a follow-on to the Dec. 6 Public Hearing, a reading of the DEIS report, and observations and personal opinions on the Deer Culling Plan. I write it as an eleven year resident of Cayuga Heights in the expectation that the trustees are listening before making important decisions and that the process undertaken to this point is not just a perfunctory fulfillment of state requirements. I will end with sharing what my own personal inclinations, values, morals and ethics tell me, but first a few comments on some of the factual elements of the effort to date. The comments that follow are based in part on the expertise I have gained in the application of the scientific methods in a career spanning 30+ years, nearly two decades as a research scientist at IBM Research and recent 11 years of education and research carried out in my capacity as Charles N. Mellowes Professor in Engineering at Cornell and as Director of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network. Data and Records as reflected in the DEIS a. It is very problematic that there are no year by year statistics with error margins on deer population provided in the main body of the DEIS'. From what I understand, such data is available from field studies carried out for the 2000 through 2006 period (from 2000, with a range of 170-210 deer to 2006, estimated at 147 deer with a range of 124-176). Based on the information included in the DEIS, we cannot know with any confidence if the current deer population is smaller or larger than it was in 2006. The current population should have been determined using a field study, as in previous years. As it is, in what way does the estimated population in 2010, in the same range as the population in 2000, reflect such a major change from the past that it should spur drastic action? ' See Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Executive Summary:page 1-1 Page Z of 5 b. The DEIS should include detailed information on the range of travel of local deer. If most of the village's deer are to be killed, the DEIS should include an accurate analysis of how many new deer are likely to come into Cayuga Heights due to migration. This is important since animals travel, and short range and long range impact in time and space are central to environmental modeling. Population changes and diffusion are critical in this discussion. It is a serious flaw that this fundamental issue is not addressed. c. Lyme disease, a bacterial disease, is carried by ticks, and there are numerous tick vectors besides deer—all vertebrates. Lyme disease exists in a variety of regions where there are no deer, and it does not always exist in regions where deer are present. I see no statistics in the DEIS on the incidence of Lyme disease in this communityZ. Studies point out that mice and rats are the principal way by which Lyme disease ticks are distributed, at least in the northeastern United States, and killing deer has little to do with controlling the role these kinds of animals play in Lyme disease transmission. If Lyme disease is a true matter of any concern here, the DEIS should make a point of addressing the population of mice and rats, and not deer. d. Biodiversity is a term used entirely inappropriately in this DEIS report3. Biodiversity encompasses measures of both flora and fauna, and no Cayuga Heights statistics at all are provided in the DEIS for past or present levels of either. Household plantings cannot be considered part of this biodiversity; these are largely foreign plants brought in by community members and many of these plants are quite inappropriately matched to the local climate. e. No year by year statistics are provided for the number of deer-vehicle collisions°. It would be important to know how the number of deer-vehicle collisions change year to year and where clusters of accidents occurred to identify patterns and also to know the speed limit in these locations, as well as how often the accidents were associated with violation of the current speed limit. The DEIS should include the percentage of drivers who have been charged with violating the 30 mph or other even lower speed limits in this community. f. While a survey of residents is included from a decade agos, no current statistics are provided regarding the opinions and wishes of local residents. Do the people of Cayuga Heights really want the mass killing of deer by net and bolt? Do they want 'See Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Project Description:page 2-10 3 Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Project Description:page 2-3 d Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Existing Conditions, page 3-3 'Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Appendx B: Preliminary Situation Analysis From a Survey of Residents March 1999 Page 3 of 5 deer to be sterilized, or do they want them to be left alone?When was the last survey and what did it say? How can such an important decision be made without knowing more about community attitudes? In sum,this DEIS has little that stands up to even the most basic scientific scrutiny, and almost nothing in way of verified factual information. How can an educated community like ours accept such an abjectly insufficient document for which $12,000 of taxpayer money was spent? Cayuga Heights rules and ordinances and their relationship to deer-human conflict a. As an avid gardener, I fail to understand the arguments regarding the negative impact of deer on gardening6. Through the use of fencing and careful choice in plantings our family has had no problems with deer for many years. Even our vegetable gardens have faced no problems. b. Allowing people to have higher fences if they want to have plants attractive to deer would remove the biggest source of deer-human conflict in Cayuga Heights. It is a serious flaw that fencing in not seriously evaluated in the DEIS since it is a cheap, sustainable and an effective long term alternative to the annual mass killing of deer7. c. Be stricter about the 30 mph limits. If people have accidents with deer driving at this speed or lower, I would wonder more about the driver's capabilities than about the number of deer in the village. For those speeding, of course, driver reaction time is often inadequate. Speeders should be ticketed for breaking traffic laws. d. Introduce policies that encourage the biodiversity that the DEIS pays such a lip service to and ends up misinterpreting 8. Encourage a greater diversity of local species in people's yards and elsewhere by encouraging planting of as many native species as possible. e. Introduce village-wide education program about Lyme disease prevention and early detection, which would be far more effective than killing deer.This is the practice in many communities in Northeast United States and a recommended practice by health sources.This is what was practiced in Westchester County from where we moved to Ithaca. Simple changes in rules and ordinances would protect homeowners' properties and, over time, likely reduce the deer population by reducing the food supply through an increase in fenced in areas. It appears that a variance was recently given to a village trustee for an illegal fence. It is hard to see the logic or comprehend why the rest of the village doesn't 'Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Existing Conditions, page 3-6 'Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Project Description:page 2-9 8 Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Project Description:page 2-3 Page 4 of 5 have the same courtesy in the use of fences. Greatly restricted fencing in location and in height makes it hard for those who want to protect their plants needlessly increasing the level of deer-human conflict. Being Humane in Cayuga Heights a. In the DEIS it is stated that the killing "may be experienced as a potential significant impact to the social conscience of a portion of the VCH community." This one sentence does not at all represent a serious examination of the negative impact of this killing program on the character of our community9. Our elected representatives have responsibility for the well-being of the community and for responsible use of our taxpayer dollars. This means that they must be respectful of the diverse population that resides here and take seriously any act's impact on the physical and psychological health of those in our community—not just Cayuga Heights, but our whole community including the Town and City of Ithaca and Cornell. This includes trauma connected to acts of killing—both on children and on those who find the mass killing of our backyard deer morally repugnant. b. This program has already polarized the community, and it is the responsibility of elected representatives to choose a course of action that assures that civilized behavior prevails, laws are followed, and that conduct is ethically and morally correct. c. Democracy is not dictatorship of majority but involves acting in a way that morally and ethically reflects the values and will of the people. Why is there is no information available anywhere on the will of the people on this issue?Do our residents really want a mass-killing of deer in our backyards by net and bolt, or do they want deer to be made infertile, or do they want them to be left alone? Do they want killing and a divided community, or fences and a community at peace? d. Our elected representatives should take a hard look at the opinions being expressed by our citizens. There are people on both sides of this issue. It is the responsibility of the representatives to develop an informed understanding through collection of factual data on many topics such as the deer population, biodiversity, community attitudes and all possible solutions, and following that, finding a peaceful and legal means by which problems can be addressed. Personal Ethics and Values a. Our family moved to Cayuga Heights attracted by the combination of Cornell University and the values we thought this community represented—a local and global view of the world we inhabit and affect through our actions. We believe in non-violent means of solving problems and conflicts and in raising children and educating students to be 9 Cayuga Heights Deer Management Plan DEIS Executive Summary:page 1-5 Page 5 of 5 civilized humans aware and acting responsibly as one of the large diversity of species who inhabit this planet. b. I am a native of India, a country that at the time of my birth was a young country that achieved its freedom from multiple centuries of colonialism and foreign domination, similar in many ways as the independence of United States nearly two centuries before that of India. We grew up in a Gandhian tradition, of civil disobedience, that was so powerfully practiced here by Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement even when significant popular opinion and governance was against it.The approach insists on truth, openness, and ethics and values guided by a moral force and use of non-violent means of civil resistance.These are the values we have practiced and taught our children. These are the values that guide actions of our life. The world, and United States, would be a far more pleasant, humane and livable place if we practiced these values of a civilized society, rather than polarization and violence that has become pervasive. For us, this is our religion and our spiritual way. And practice of this locally is an essential part of a society all connected together living in harmony. c. We love the deer that come to the yard, and have known a deer with an ear tag labeled #138 now for a couple of years. She gave birth to two fawns this spring in our yard and that was an expansion for us of our family of whom they are a part and a source of immense love and pleasure. The psychological and personal impact of their unnatural death by any means can scarcely be imagined. My wife and I shudder and cry at the mere imagining of the event, and it is even worse considering my own local government intends to use our own tax dollars to carry out this injustice. We are resolved that if such acts of wanton violence comes to pass, we will leave this community. It does not represent our values, morals, and ethics. Fortunately for us and others like us, the world provides many options for graceful living at peace with our surroundings. We are not alone in this thought. The trustees have heard serious objections to the planned pogrom with passion. My colleagues at work that live in Cayuga Heights and numerous neighbors have expressed similar opinions. Departures from Cayuga Heights based on ethical objections will certainly change the character of the community in ways few would want. Submitted in the hope that the representatives are truly listening and will act morally in fulfilling their responsibilities towards the community, rather than merely pretending to be listening. Sandip Tiwari Resident of Cayuga Heights, and Charles N. Mellowes Professor in Engineering at Cornell University