Providence Water Supply Cancels Deer Management Hunting Program With No Explanation
The annual deer management program was abruptly canceled on Friday by the Providence Water Supply Board without notice. The program was to launch this weekend.
The 16-year-old program left participants who went through a lottery program and an orientation confused about the cancellation. The only notice was a one-liner posted to its website.
According to an archived version of the Providence Water Supply Board website, the program was created to control the deer population in the watershed:
In 2010, based in part on recommendations from an independent review, Providence Water began a white-tailed deer management program on select areas of its watershed property. The review showed that deer were over-abundant on portions of Providence Water forest and their browsing on seedlings is a threat to the forest being able to regenerate itself as well as other species of wildlife that also make the forest their home.…