Syracuse City Council Committee Meeting on Tick and Deer Management - September 29, 2025
Syracuse City Council Committee Meeting on Tick and Deer Management - September 29, 2025
This committee meeting of the Syracuse City Council focused on the results of the city's tick and deer management program for the 2024-25 season and plans for the upcoming season. Greg Lowe (Intergovernmental Affairs, Mayor's Office) presented an overview of the program's history, methods, outcomes, and costs, followed by questions and comments from councilors and public testimony.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Bob Haley (University area resident and deer diarist for 5-6 years): Expressed strong support for the program, praised the trap-and-euthanize method as a necessary and humane advance, and advocated for more educational signage at schools, gardens, and greenways (e.g., Ed Smith School, creek walks).
- Nancy Larson (Meadowbrook Drive resident): Opposed the program, stating that deer numbers in her neighborhood have decreased to nearly zero. She argued the program is primarily a deer killing program, not a tick management program, and criticized the trap-and-euthanize method as egregious. She suggested alternatives such as fences and different plantings.
Discussion Items
- Greg Lowe provided background: the program began in 2019-2020 and has completed six seasons. It addresses deer overpopulation due to ecosystem and human interaction, with goals to reduce Lyme disease, deer-vehicle collisions, and environmental damage.
- Methods used: firearms (where state criteria are met) and a new trap-and-euthanize pilot (used on the east side where firearm use is infeasible). All work is conducted by USDA Wildlife Services with support from Syracuse Police Department.
- 2024-25 season results (January-March 2025): 137 white-tailed deer were culled; approximately 4,000 pounds of venison were donated to the food bank (over 12,000 meals). The trap-and-euthanize pilot used soft-sided traps at 7 properties, resulting in 55 deer euthanized. Cost: about $60,000 (shared with Onondaga County).
- USDA recommended continuing the trap-and-euthanize method and identifying additional properties. The city plans to renew the state's urban deer management pilot program (3-year pilot requiring extension).
- Councilor Caldwell raised concerns about tick warning signs in parks; the parks department lowered signs to eye level. Caldwell also suggested placing signs at schools (e.g., Cork, Roberts, Ed Smith) and community gardens. Greg Lowe agreed to coordinate.
- Councilor Caldwell asked about a deer sanctuary; Greg explained that DEC prohibits moving deer due to disease risks.
- Councilor Williams (former councilor) thanked Greg and emphasized the need for continued state legislative support.
- Councilor Navi inquired about north side deer activity; Greg noted it is not currently a focus but could be considered with increased reports.
- Councilor Caldwell suggested engaging veterinarian offices and pet groomers to track tick locations; Greg mentioned the city could reach out and also noted the CNY Lyme Alliance as a complement.
- Councilor Williams asked about collaboration with neighboring municipalities (e.g., DeWitt); Greg confirmed coordination with DeWitt and Solvay.
Key Outcomes
- No formal vote was taken. The committee received the update and discussed next steps.
- The city will continue the trap-and-euthanize method and seek additional properties for management.
- Greg Lowe will work to expand the deer diarist program and encourage public participation.
- The administration will ask the council to support renewal of the state's urban deer management pilot program through advocacy with state delegation (Assembly Member Hunter, Senator May, and the Governor).
- Parks will consider placing tick warning signs at schools and community gardens, with council input.
- The administration will follow up with the CNY Lyme Alliance and consider outreach to veterinarians and pet groomers.
Meeting Transcript
We are going to get ready to start our committee meeting. Good morning, thank you, President Hudson and other members of the council who are with us today. Among my duties is intergovernmental affairs. I'm going to step up quickly and change that monitor briefly. Okay. The topic today, as you know, is the city's tick and deer management program and specifically the results from the work that was completed in 2024-25, and then looking ahead to plans for the upcoming season, which will start later this year and carry over into early next year. Some quick background as a reminder things that the public and uh counselors may remember, but always worth covering again is we are addressing a longstanding problem that's existed in the city regarding overpopulation of deer. This is not a topic that any of us relish to be undertaking, but one that the circumstances of our ecosystem and human interaction with it have created. This is a program that uh first began in 2019 2020, so that makes us now heading into our sixth season of deer management, or excuse me, completed sixth season in 2025. And this is a program, we're not alone in the city of Syracuse. Uh this is undertaken by neighboring municipalities who face the same challenge. And in fact, the coordination that goes on at the county level is one of the reasons that this program is recognized also by the county's Office of an Environment of Environment as an important matter for attention at a uh multi-levels of government. Um it is often uh noted or thought that uh this is a program that is primarily about Lyme disease, and Lyme disease is a very important public health and safety concern. It has many factors that contribute to Lyme disease. So it's important for us to note that we also complete deer management because of the significant impact of uh deer motor vehicle accidents uh which uh happen in virtually all parts of the city. Um also that there's damage to our environment that are caused by overpopulation of deer. Um there they do have a significant impact on our parks and on people's private property. Here's the background of how the program works. Um the city working under uh the uh oversight of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation selects locations that meet very specific criteria outlined uh by the state. In this case, we've identified and worked on east side, west side, and south side. So, councillor Navi, actually, your district is a district that we do not receive significant reports of of deer activity. We hear some, you may get some of them. We hear some, uh, but to this so far we have not undertaken the program insights on the north side. Um we're open to considering it in the future if we see those kinds of numbers, and I'm glad to talk to you more about it if necessary. Okay, thank you. Yeah. Um, these are large private properties for the most part. Some city-owned properties in the city-owned property cases. Note that this occurs when there's no public access to those sites. They're closed to the public. Um there are um it requires written permission from property owners within 250 feet of an occupied dwelling and uh notification to property owners within 250 to 500 feet. So, simplest terms, if you live really close, we got to get you to sign a form. Uh if you live further out, we got to send you a letter by certified mail that you know and we know that we got that message to you. Uh, these are requirements set by uh the state. Uh the program is uh conducted with the help of Onondaga County, uh, the county legislature, the county executive, and the Office of Environment administer this program. I'll cover the details of that briefly. Um season, um, this past January through March, we did for the first time use a trap and euthanize method in the city. Uh this was necessary because there are parts of the city where the deer population continues to be very high, but because of the close proximity of people's houses, uh the use of firearms is not feasible. Can't find places that meet the state criteria. All of this work, the trap and euthanize, uh, the firearms program are done by qualified wildlife managers who work with the USDA. Um the program has close involvement with Syracuse Police Department, which is aware of and uh assists when necessary. We issue a public notice at the start of each season, and we issue public notice about this process. Uh deer management is uh tick and deer management is something that people's engagement should continue over time, and um wildlife managers do the work at night. See if we can keep it going. Yes. When you trap them, what do you do with them? Um how about if in just two slides I tell you more about trap and euthanize so that everyone is aware of of how that work occurs. Okay. Yeah, okay. Um wait, can you clarify what was your question?
openpublica.com