DEC OK’s killing of 20 deer at the Sagamore. Critic: It’s ‘disgusting’

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

After a reader alerted The Chronicle that deer were being killed on The Sagamore’s property in Bolton Landing, we asked the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation about it.

DEC, in written statements, confirmed that USDA Wildlife Services had killed six deer on the Lake George property as of March 3 after the DEC issued a Deer Damage Permit to The Sagamore effective Feb. 6.

It authorized live-trapping and lethal removal of up to 20 white-tailed deer on the property using “humane methods.”

DEC said, “The Sagamore Resort requested this permit to safeguard human health and safety due to overabundant deer and concerns with motor vehicle-deer collisions, negative human-deer interactions, and the potential for Lyme Disease transmission.

“The permit was also requested to reduce extensive damage to horticultural plantings on the property.”

Sagamore General Manager Tom Guay told The Chronicle, “The Sagamore recognized a hazard to our guests and worked closely with the DEC and USDA to address the serious concern we had.”

DEC said Environmental Conservation Law authorizes it to “issue a permit to any person to take wildlife, including deer, whenever it becomes a nuisance, destructive to public or private property, or a threat to public health or welfare.”

USDA Wildlife Services are using a captive bolt device to “humanely” euthanize deer they live-trap as per the American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals: Free-ranging and Captive Wildlife, the DEC statement said.

“The captive bolt method is considered a Tier 1 method for ungulates (including white-tailed deer), which is given highest priority and should be utilized preferentially, when possible.”

Paul Brown, who says he works for DEC at the Green Island Maintenance Center adjacent to The Sagamore, called the killing of the deer “very disturbing.”

Mr. Brown says, “The Sagamore Hotel is baiting and killing deer that wander over from the mainland for no reason other than they are worried about someone getting attacked or someone that doesn’t like seeing wildlife. The animals deserve to live in the Adirondacks. The animals live here too, year round 24/7 365.

“I and many others from the town of Bolton disagree with what they are doing. The fact that a company is allowed to do this is disgusting. It should be illegal in the Adirondacks. Without wildlife there is no Adirondacks.”

“Uneducated people should stay in NYC if they don’t want to see or encounter wildlife,” he said.

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