The Potomac Highlands Watershed

Tips for Teachers • Past Forums • Current eForum (click on phone)

Here are a few out of many of CI Staff's favorite eForum moments.

The Lorax

Passion

We just have to start with the following entry from Hampshire High, on behalf of the forest from Oh Deer! 2005:

I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.

I speak for the trees, ‘cause no tree has a tongue,

By deer they are eaten, left open to disease,

Unless they are stopped, they will have no more young.

The deer they dislike, for trees they outnumber,

Too many trees made by deer now to slumber,

They eat many seeds and all acorns that fall.

How now can trees grow, if they’re eaten when small?

Now I can tell you that I know ONE way,

But before you can decide, listen to all that I say.

Since nature has long kept balance on her own,

I think it only fitting, that she retain the throne.

Not by fences, or reseeding, or hunting can she thrive,

The forest, as always, needs new life to survive,

Deer they once hunted, with skill like Orion,

Again nature cries “Wolf! and Mountain lion!”

-- A poem by Combs, Huff, & Barry

The Lorax

Passion

The strongest moments often come in POVs that reflect personal experience. Not surprisingly, the greatest passion tends to come from students who farm.

Emotionally loaded phrases are not uncommon, such as “not the farmer’s faults”, “farmers get blamed”, “we feed the American population”, “we are and have been trying to keep pollution out of the waters.” This came from the student’s peers, friends, neighbors.

Farmer's 101

Dr. Harman- Advanced Bio., Petersburg High School

POV from SCE Forum 2006

In my point of view it is not the farmers faults that the bay is polluted today because we are and have been trying to keep pollutions out of the waters for many years now. We have been working with our county extension agents, and the governments to find out what the right chemicals to use on the fields are and what we can’t use because it might be a pollutant and don’t want blamed for it in the long run. I have heard that we are not the problem in the polluting of the bay because we are far enough away that by the time the water reaches the bay it is already naturally filtered by the rocks in the riverbeds. I think that there are a few solutions that I could think of like we could get all farmers to go to a fertilize awareness meeting telling them about when the best times and worst times to fertilize their fields, and what to use and what not. References: Brad Smith, Grant County Extension Agent WVU Extension services

BSMS farmers

Mr. Moore- 2nd block environmental science, Hampshire High School

POV from SCE Forum 2006

Most of America relies on the food that our farms produce. All of the unhealthy water that the farms are creating is harmful to our animals that we live off of. The unhealthy water is not only hurting farm profits but it will also hurt you too. When our farms animals get sick from drinking the unhealthy water then we lose our profit from not being able to sell out meat. If we can’t sell our meat, then what is America suppose to eat. Our farm doesn’t want to have to put out a whole lot of money into buying a fence to stop contamination of the water. If America still wants to have meat to eat then they are going to have to help pay for the equipment that we need. It is not only one farm being hurt by this, it’s everywhere. Our input is so important because the farms of America are the basis of the meat industry. The possible solutions not only affect us but you also. We need everyone’s help to be able to sell America good meat. If we don’t have good meat then the people don’t have any to eat.

The Lorax

The POVs and TQs are meant to spark the students' creativity and encourage them to think outside their own lives. Some really do use their imagination to see what the lives of others is like.

From: Awsome Ecosystem
To: 1st Block: Dea, Kyrstin, Heather, Rebecca, Erica, & Nikki
After reading your forum, I thought that it would be interesting to ask you what your references were. I'm not sure that all of your information is correct.

Response:

The reason that you don't understand our POV is because we wrote it in the point of view of a fish.

The Fish's Point of View

Submit Monday, April 10, 2006
"Dea, Kyrstin, Heather, Rebecca, Erica, & Nikki","1st Block","Mr. Moore","Hampshire High School","CB_Ecosystem","","The Ecosystem of the Bay

The cleanliness of the water is important to us because the water is what provides us with oxygen. The silt and sediment that pollutes the Chesapeake Bay clouds the water, keeping this sunlight from the plant life at the bottom of the Bay. Too much sediment will fertilize the algae and we will die. As we decompose, oxygen is removed from the water. The silt chokes us, keeping oxygen from our lungs. We are directly affected by the decisions of human kind and by the pollution of the Bay. We should have some input because of this. We are the ones that die for human kind’s mistakes.

The Lorax

Hampshire Review: “HHS Science Department lands deer browsing grant.”

Hampshire High School, with the help of Cacapon Institute, obtain a grant to install a small deer “exclosure” to be used as a living laboratory to study the impacts of deer browsing on forest health. The U.S. Forest Service research team in Parsons, WV followed the 2005 Oh Deer! Forum. Their interest in the students' work led to a $3,800 grant for Hampshire High to establish a larger research area. The U.S. Forest Service continues to work with the students in a cooperative research project.

The Lorax

Finding Riches on the Web

For some students this is their first experience using the internet as a research tool. It is amazing what they can find. Here some West Virginia high school students found a paper by some seventh grade students in New Jersey and some information from Alabama.

Petersburg High School, Kendra, Erin, Matt

Hunters’ Views on Deer Overpopulation

POV from Oh Deer! 2005

Being a hunter could be a good thing when the deer populations are overcrowded, mostly because it allows you a lot more chances to kill a deer, or even see one while hunting in the woods. Then again it can have its downfalls. When the deer population is overcrowded, it can lead to most male deer being killed and displayed as trophy deer. This leaves the does in the woods, and never shot.

As hunters, we have looked into a lot of ideas that could help reduce the overpopulation of deer. One way that could help is allow more does to be killed and fewer bucks. This would allow the doe population to decrease, and bucks to grow more mature before they’re killed. We searched on the Internet to find other people who had the same view on that subject that we did. A few seventh graders from Franklin Lakes Public Schools in New Jersey found that killing more does and fewer bucks was the best option most people could think of trying(1). These Franklin Lakes students had similar ideas to ours.

The overpopulation of deer needs more than one way to be solved. Besides permitting the hunting of more does, a longer hunting season could be allowed. Hunting them year round may not help as well as it should. Another way to decrease the population would be to release predators into the wild. These predators would utilize deer as a food source and help control the deer population. The West Virginia DNR could release animals such as wolves and mountain lions. We looked again online for further references involving reintroduction of these animals back into the wild and found some who agreed and some who didn’t. Many say it should be done, but watched closely so it doesn’t get out of hand. Evan Haarbauer, a high school student from Alabama School of Math and Science, wrote in an essay: “ Predators should be released into local habitats as a way to decrease the deer population.”(2) We had the same ideas Evan did on the subject. Those who are against putting predators in the wild mostly say it is dangerous because the predators could kill off other animals and maybe endanger human life.

References Cited:

1. Seventh grade students at Franklin Lakes Schools wrote a paper telling how they thought killing deer was needed. Read it here.

2. Evan Haarbauer of Jefferson County, He attends Alabama School of Math and Science. Read it here.

The Lorax

Consensus

We have seen quite a few good consensus papers, but the following one is our favorite - so far. Their writing was clear, and their reasoning was solid and well supported by the references at the bottom. Their teacher sent us an email right after they were done, which included this: "The most rewarding experience for me was the students’ response at the end of consensus work. All the students leaned back in their chairs and collapsed with a sense of satisfied accomplishment."

PETERSBURG H.S. DEER POPULATION MANAGEMENT POLICY

We, the hunters, farmers, foresters, and homeowners of Petersburg High School, have developed a deer population management policy. We have a three pronged approach to deer population control.

The first aspect of our population management would be to make changes to the hunting seasons. Firstly, we would allow a longer hunting season. Hunters would have a three buck limit per year (one for each season – bow, muzzleloader, and rifle). For every buck, a hunter would need to harvest three does before the next buck could be killed, with a four point or greater size limit on all bucks. A hunter would be allowed to harvest nine does per year with this system. Secondly, fees for the buck hunts would be increased. Thirdly, the Department of Natural Resources would have the leverage to increase the amount of does harvested in years when deer are exceptionally plentiful.

A corollary to the changes in the hunting season would be the introduction of the “Hunters Helping the Hungry” Program. With this program, hunters could volunteer to send extra venison to needy persons. Money collected from the increased buck hunt fees could be used to help fund the administration of this program. Depending on deer population in localized areas, hunters may be permitted to harvest extra does (beyond the yearly limit) as part of the “Helping the Hungry” Program.

The second aspect of our management program would be to help farmers and landowners deal with nuisance deer. As in the current West Virginia policy, farmers would be allowed to kill deer that are damaging gardens and crops, but restrictions for obtaining permits to deal with these nuisance deer would be eased. Farmers and homeowners would have more freedom to kill deer on their own properties if the deer were over running the properties.

The third aspect of our management program is the reintroduction of deer predators, mountain lions and wolves, into West Virginia. We recognize the controversial nature of this part of our program, but think that the limited release predators could be beneficial. This aspect of the deer management program would be closely monitored by the Department of Natural Resources or the Forest Service. The introduced predators would be electronically tagged so that their movements could be tracked. They would be released only in areas of low human population (in designated wilderness areas and the national and state forest regions, for example). We expect these predators to help reduce deer populations in these areas, so that deer from other overpopulated regions could then move into (or be moved into) these regions.

We considered several other methods of reducing and controlling the deer population, but did not add them to our main plan at this time. These ideas should be researched and considered as potential future management techniques:

Deer enclosure and/or relocation. We decided that deer relocation and/or deer enclosure would be cost prohibitive to adequately control the deer population over a wide spread area.

Birth control for deer. This technique requires research for the development of an effective birth control chemical for deer and a safe delivery method for the birth control chemical. This project would be expensive and require substantial funding, but it may be beneficial in the long run for the maintenance of a stable deer population.

Market hunting. We liked the idea of including a market hunt for deer population reduction purposes, but a market hunt would require a change in state laws so that deer meat could be sold legally. In addition, government controls would need to be in place for inspection of market venison to insure the health and safety of the consumers. The administration of the marketing would require funding, probably from the state government.

The following references were used in the development of our deer population management plan:

www.bigcanoehoa.org/.../2001_09_deer_control_lecture_series_bauges.shtml

www.filebox.vt.edu/a/aawisema/possible_methods_for_deer_population.htm

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wolves/bangs.html

www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/coyoteresearch.shtml

www.noble.org/ag/wildlife/deerfoods/populationmngt3.html

www.arec.umd.edu

www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/deer/deertere.html

www.georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/content/

www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/intappdesccon.stml

www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/options.html

www.co.fairfax.va.us/comm/deer/deerfogs.htm

www.dnr.state.wv.us/wvhunting/news/99Nws236.htm

www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/management.html

www.idausa.org/facts/deercontrol.html

www.co.fairfax.va.us/comm/deer/deermgt.htm#control

www.caes.state.ct.us/PlantScienceDay/2002PSD/Deer.htm

www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021011/LIVING/510110321/1007/LIV ING