Wall Township No-Hunt Zones: Wall Township resident Gary Faraci discovered that two of the newly proposed Monmouth County Park hunt zones lie within Wall Township's no-hunt zone. The county is still determined to go ahead with the hunt in those areas, despite requests from Wall Township officials asking the county to cancel the hunt. Read the Asbury Park Press article here.
County Freeholder Candidates: The Democratic candidates for Monmouth County Freeholder have both taken a stand against the hunt! Let's make sure that Judge John D'Amico and Mayor Stephen Schuueler get elected, so that we can have a majority on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders! Click here for more information about these candidates!
***June, 2006 Update: Monmouth County Park System still has not answered questions about the costs of the hunt or the deer population. Questions about the costs of the hunt and about deer population estimates have gone unanswered. The Board of Recreation Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the deer management proposal on June 5, 2005, but as of the June 2 (the last day for written public comments on the proposal) the Park System has not answered most of our questions that were presented at the May 22, 2006 Board meeting.
Sprinkler Systems: At the May 22, 2006 Board meeting, the Board discussed whether they can afford to install sprinkler systems in all park buildings. One of the buildings that does not have a sprinkler system is the Manasquan Reservoir Environmental Center, which attracts families and school groups with children. The Park System has not yet told us how much the hunt costs, but we do know that around $4,000 was spent on signs to delineate the hunting zone. This does not include the cost of staff to administer the hunting permits, tally hunter surveys, guard the park entrances and turn people away from the Category 2 parks during hunting season. Considering the fire that destroyed the Thompson Park Visitor Center, shouldn't the County spend this money on sprinkler systems instead of a recreational deer hunt?
Lands Leased to Farmers: We have also recently learned that the Park System is leasing land to farmers, including 100 acres at Thompson Park, where the permitted crops are soybeans, field corn, sweet corn and grain. Not only are these crop fields incongruous with maintaining the "native vegetation" that the Park System claims they want to protect, but by requiring the farmers to grow these deer-preferred crops, the Park System is feeding the deer and therefore increasing their reproductive rate.
***May, 2005 Update: County Covers up Shooting in Crosswicks Creek Park: A hunter was shot by another hunter during the 2004/2005 deer hunt in Crosswicks Creek Park, but the Park System chose to cover up this incident and failed to mention it in their Annual Report. The incident was reported to the Park System in December, 2004, and Save Monmouth County Parks learned of the incident in May, 2005 and as a result, the incident is finally under investigation by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Background
Monmouth County's Board of Recreation Commissioners voted in 2004 to allow deer hunting in our county parks. The 2004/2005 hunt was the first in the county parks' history. In some of the parks, hunting will take place during the same hours that the parks are open to the public! Other parks will be closed to everyone except hunters during certain hours. During the 2004/2005 hunt, local residents were turned away from our own parks, while 42% of the hunters were not Monmouth County residents, and 4% weren't even New Jersey residents!
We oppose the hunt because it is cruel to the animals, dangerous to people and doesn't solve anything. Please explore this site to learn more about this cruel and dangerous hunt.
Who we are: Save Monmouth County Parks(TM) is a non-profit organization of concerned Monmouth County residents working to make our county parks safe for children and wildlife. We are not affiliated with the Monmouth County Park System or any other organization.