2006-07 deer Report - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Executive SummaryFuture Management Plans: Update2007 Deer Plan RevisionThe Wildlife Management Division has initiatedthe process to revise the agency’s Strategic DeerManagement Plan in 2007. The process selected willincorporate public input data and biological parametersto produce a final product.AGFC has contracted the services of DynamicSolutions Group, a consulting firm that workswith natural resources agencies around the countryto develop management strategies while forgingrelationships with the public. The group has worked onhot-item issues such as wolf management in Utah andWyoming, but one of its specialties is increasing publicinvolvement during the development of fish and wildlifemanagement plans.Traditionally, species plans are developed by AGFCbiologists with public input incorporated on the tailendof plan development. This new approach involvesgathering public input data during the initial stages andmerging the public’s input with biology to produce astatewide plan.The process started by developing advisory groupsincluding various stakeholders from each physiographicregion of Arkansas. The advisory groups act as asounding board for the AGFC and assist with plandevelopment and implementation.The next step was a series of 10 public scopingworkshops held in June, 2007. These workshopsgathered public input that will assist in the developmentof the plan.A second round of public meetings will be heldfollowing the completion of the draft managementplan with a deer summit meeting scheduled forSept. 29, 2007. The summit meeting will includeinformation on implementing the plan, but willfocus on thanking participants for their assistancewith plan development.The process is expected to be complete by December2007, when the final draft of the management plan willbe presented to AGFC commissioners for approval.With white-tailed deer being the highest-profilegame animal in The Natural State and with more than300,000 deer hunters pursuing whitetails each year, theAGFC believes that this new approach will allow thehunters to become vested in Arkansas’s deer resource.Deer Management Assistance Program(DMAP) Data ProgramThe AGFC Wildlife Management Division hasmade great strides in achieving this goal. We havecontracted the services of well known computerprogrammers to develop a program to reduce theamount of time biologists invest in data analysis andprovide hunting clubs a professional and valuablereport of deer herd condition.Wildlife Management AreaPermit Hunt ReportingDuring the 2006-07 season many hunters whoparticipated in a permitted hunt completed a hunter-usesurvey. Biologists responsible for these areas also havebeen collecting harvest data. This is an ongoing effortto gather information related to permit administrationand deer management goals.Develop Arkansas’s CWD Sampling andResponse PlanArkansas’s CWD Task Force completed this goalin 2007. The plan is currently available for review onwww.agfc.com. The purpose of this plan is to provideguidance for future CWD monitoring and a response ifa positive sample is found.Evaluation of the Three-Point RuleThe AGFC has been working with the University ofArkansas at Monticello to review the three-point antlerregulation’s effect on age composition and antler size.This project is scheduled for completion late in 2007.7