Survey questions about whether or not the city should start a deer-culling program were passed onto the Green River City Council for its review.
Green River city administrator Reed Clevenger said the 20 survey questions city employees put together have been sent to the City Council for it to consider.
“We are just waiting to get the green light on it,” Clevenger said.
Once the questions are finalized, this will be the second time Green River residents will be asked to answer questions about whether or not they would support a deer-culling program. Culling is a polite term used for killing the animal.
Prior to deciding what questions to have on the survey, city representatives talked to numerous communities within Wyoming about the culling programs each community has in place. Clevenger said they also asked those same communities about their survey questions. He said he quickly learned the surveys varied drastically. One community only had two questions on the survey, while others had more than 40. Clevenger said the challenge was to get the questions worded correctly so everyone would understand them. They also wanted the questions to be neutral.
Clevenger said the employees started researching survey questions when the Council wanted another survey completed to see if the communities’ opinion had changed. The last survey showed the city split at 50/50 between those in favor of leaving the deer alone and those who want to cull the herd.
So far, it seems as though the city is still split. Clevenger said at a recent workshop numerous people voiced concerns about the deer eating their trees, bushes, flowers and becoming domesticated.
Others said the deer charged children and were no longer afraid of cars. Most residents agreed the animals were still illegally being fed within the city limits.
He said most of those who attended that particular workshop were in favor of culling the animals. However, after the workshop, the city received phone calls and visits from other residents in favor of leaving the deer alone. It’s about 20 people on each side.
The city was also checking police reports to see if people reported the deer attacks and to check for deer-related accidents.
Since the city already conducted one survey, it used those questions as a reference point. Clevenger said they wanted to make sure residents know culling deer means killing them. Apparently, during the last survey, some residents were confused with the terminology.
Clevenger said he expects the Council to give him some feedback on the questions at the next Council meeting, which is scheduled to take place Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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