The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

January 9, 2009

Deer-sensing legislation is not expected in interims

By Mannix Porterfield

Depending on whose figures you read, West Virginia is either leading the nation in highway crashes with deer or is well up in the standings.

Yet, it’s not likely to see a legislative panel propose any legislation when its meets Sunday in January interims.

The subject could be broached, however, since the Division of Natural Resources intends to send a spokesman to discuss the 2008 deer hunting season, says Sen. John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell, co-chairman of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Subcommittee.

A month ago, Paul Johansen, assistant wildlife chief for the DNR, provided a lengthy report on deer-sensing devices used in a number of states to warn motorists when large animals are approaching a highway from a forest or an open meadow.

In his report, the DNR official suggested the devices, although used with a measure of success in a few states, largely are expensive and unreliable, or, at best, their capabilities are inconclusive.

Johansen is scheduled to discuss the last fall’s big-game hunting season, but Fanning said it’s possible the panel might revisit the matter of deer-sensing devices.

Last month, Johansen discussed data he collected on 22 deer-sensing systems in Europe and a dozen in North America that are either in the experimental stage or have been tested, largely in western states.

Various problems have plagued the devices, he pointed out, and the majority have been dismantled in the states that were giving them a trial run.

Which leaves Fanning’s committee without any specific direction from the DNR as to possible legislation in a state where one in 63 highway crashes involves a deer. The study was sought by another panelist, Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, out of growing concern about the loss in property values and injuries incurred when deer sprint across roads into the path of motor vehicles.

Just a few years ago, Bowman had noted, drivers in Pennsylvania killed more deer on the highway than hunters did in the woods of West Virginia.

Any legislation that might be served up to the full Legislature likely depends on the advice of the DNR with regard to deer-sensing apparatus.

“We’ll see what they tell us on Sunday as to what they want to do,” Fanning said.

“If they would make a recommendation, we would have it ready for February. We’ll see if they would make any recommendations or have enough information to make one.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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