Bennington County member resigns following debate over permit quota
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By Dennis Jensen Staff Writer - Published: July 13, 2008
WATERBURY — Hunters are closer to getting a crack at 22,050 antlerless deer permits and seeing an increase in the annual bag limit from two to three deer this fall.
The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board voted to approve, on the second of three votes, both controversial proposals by a surprisingly close, 7-6 margin at its monthly meeting Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the board's decision prompted the resignation of Keith Armstrong, the Bennington County representative on the board.
Armstrong, who has led the fight to decrease the number of permits in Wildlife Management Unit N, located in Bennington Country, resigned just moments before the board adjourned.
Appointed to the board in 2006, Armstrong said he was troubled by the fact that, despite a petition signed by 500 Bennington deer hunters opposed to the increase in permits, the department refused to listen to their concerns.
"The public input doesn't amount to anything," he told Dana Kittell, the board chairman. "I'm just not coming any more because we're not listened to."
Armstrong said the recommendation by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to increase the number of antlerless permits in WMU N from 500 in 2007 to 3,200 this year could not be justified because the deer numbers don't support the increase.
Last month, Armstrong called for the resignation of Wayne Laroche, calling the Fish & Wildlife commissioner a "dictator," and maintaining that "there's not the number of deer out there" to justify 3,200 permits targeted for his county.
In May, the board voted in favor of the proposal, aimed at reducing the number of adult does in the deer herd, by a 9-2 margin. The latest vote came as a surprise to some board members.
"I'm shocked it went 7-6," said Robert Shannon, the Lamoille County representative. "I didn't think it would be that close."
The seven board members who approved the antlerless and three-deer limit plans were: Shannon; Jeremy Baker, Rutland County; Edward Gallo, Chittenden; Brian Ames, Windham; Jeff Salvador, Washington; Walt Driscoll, Essex; and Craig Lantagne, Caledonia.
The six members who cast votes opposing the plan were: Wayne Barrows, Windsor County; Keith Armstrong, Bennington; Cindy Jones, Orange; Craig Lefevre, Orleans; Claude Rainville, Addison; and John Roy, Grand Isle;
Kitell, who did not vote, said he strongly supported the department's antlerless recommendation.
During the debate over the proposal, Armstrong asked the board to consider his recommendation that would cut the antlerless permits in WMU N to 300.
"I'm getting different feedback than what you're getting," he told Laroche and Fish & Wildlife Department deer team leader Shawn Haskell. "We do not have the concentration of deer you have in other areas."
Haskell reiterated comments he has made earlier, that the department does not expect enough hunters to apply for the number of permits that will be allocated.
"We don't expect to fill all of those permits," he said.
The aim of the proposed antlerless hunt, to be held during the nine-day muzzle loader season in December, is to cut the number of does in a growing deer herd.
Kittell, the Franklin County representative, said he supports the department's plan, saying he hasn't heard any outcry from those in the northwestern corner of the state. He also said the board should consider "the science and biology" behind the antlerless proposal
"The department has done a great job," he said.
Laroche told the board that, even if the targeted number of antlerless deer — the estimate is 7,662 — are taken, the deer herd will only increase next spring, due to fawn births.
"The herd would still be increased, not decreased," he said.
The board voted down Armstrong's proposal, with the Bennington County representative casting the only vote in favor of it.
Another proposal, to open WMU D2 to bow hunting this season, was rejected by the board by a 7-5 vote.
After two devastating winters, in 2001 and 2003, the Vermont deer herd — and the annual buck kill — plummeted to figures not seen in 50 years. The board responded by cutting the yearly bag limit for hunters from three to two deer.
But department biologists now maintain the herd has grown enough to a return to a three deer bag limit, one that would include two legal bucks.
A legislative panel will next consider the proposal, then send the plan back to the board for a third and final vote, set for Aug. 20.
Contact Dennis Jensen at dennis.jensen@rutlandherald.com
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