Annual/Termination Reports:

[06/10/2003] [06/18/2004] [06/21/2005]

Report Information

Participants

Anderson, James (wetland@wvu.edu) - West Virginia University; Curtis, Paul (pdc1@cornell.edu) - Cornell University; Drake, David (drake@aesop.rutgers.edu) - Rutgers University; Menzel, Bruce (bmenzel@reeusda.gov) - USDA-CSREES; Osbourne, Joseph (E-mail not available) - West Virginia University; Parkhurst, James (jparkhur@mail.vt.edu) - Virginia Tech University; Ramakrishnan, Uma (Uma.Ramakrishnan@po.state.ct.us) - Connecticut AES; San Julian, Gary (jgs9@psu.edu) - Pennsylvania State University

Brief Summary of Minutes

The annual meeting for NEREC 1001 occurred April 13, 2003 from 4-5:30pm during the 59th Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference in Newport, Rhode Island. The meeting was chaired by David Drake (Rutgers University).





The meeting began with a summary of the 12-page proposal to establish a Northeast Research and Extension Consortium (NEREC) titled Piloting a Regional Research and Educational Approach to Integrated Deer Damage Management. A discussion followed regarding potential avenues to secure funding to implement the proposal. A primary funding focus has been to request from Congress a new, special federal grant appropriation of $1.5 million in each of the next 5 years to establish and implement the proposal, and to support its proposed annual competitive grants program. A summary of an economic assessment from unwanted deer-human interactions in the northeast United States was distributed to Council on Agriculture, Research, Education, and Teaching (CARET) representatives, who are pursuing Congressional funding on behalf of the NEREC 1001. In addition, David Drake reported that a number of efforts had been made to organize a trip to Washington, D.C. for agricultural experiment station and farm bureau representatives from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to visit with congressional representatives from northeastern states. The purpose of the trip was to discuss the possibility of Congressional funding for the proposal. Due to weather and scheduling difficulties, no trip was scheduled during Spring 2003. Organizing a trip to Washington continues to be a high priority. Meeting participants agreed to contact their respective states farm bureau and agricultural experiment station to recruit representatives to participate in a future Washington trip. An additional funding idea forwarded by Bruce Menzel was to investigate funding through the USDA  CSREES Natural Resources Initiative program, which David Drake agreed to pursue.





A second topic of discussion that arose at the meeting was future directions for multi-state extension and research collaboration. It was agreed by all participants that we would develop a proposal to examine the impact deer may have on northeast United States forest species abundance, diversity, and health. A 2-pronged approach was decided, including a mail survey that will be sent to randomly selected private forest landowners in a number of states, paired with an on-the-ground survey to validate the mail survey results. In conjunction with proposal development, we expect to work with Bruce Menzel to secure funding to implement the research. A planning grant will also be sought in order to organize all interested parties (i.e., foresters, wildlife biologists, water quality experts, etc.) for investigating possible deer impacts on forest health and management.

Accomplishments

Project is less than a year old; no accomplishments to report at this time.

Publications

Drake, D., Paulin, J.B., Curtis, P.D., Decker, D.J., and San Julian, G.J. Assessment of Economic Impacts from Deer in the Northeastern United States. Journal of Extension. (Submitted June 2003).<br /> <br><br /> <br>Drake, D., Pualin, J.B., Curtis, P.D., Decker, D.J., and San Julian, G.J. Assessment of Economic Impacts from Deer in the Northeastern United States. Proceedings from the Tenth Wildlife Damage Management Conference, April 6-9, 2003. Hot Springs, AR.

Impact Statements

1. Project is less than a year old; no impacts to report at this time.

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Report Information

Participants

Decker, Daniel (djd6@cornell.edu) - Cornell University;
Drake, David (drake@AESOP.Rutgers.edu) - Rutgers University;
Anderson, James (jander25@wvu.edu) - West Virginia University;
Brown, Tommy (tlb4@cornell.edu) - Cornell University;
Curtis, Paul (pdc1@cornell.edu) - Cornell University;
Menzel, Bruce (BMenzel@csrees.usda.gov) - USDA-CSREES;
Ramakrishnan, Uma (Uma.Ramakrishnan@po.state.ct.us) - Connecticut AES

Brief Summary of Minutes

The annual meeting to satisfy administrative requirements for NEREC 1001 occurred April 26, 2004 at the 60th Northeastern Fish and Wildlife Conference in Ocean City, Maryland. The meeting was co-chaired by Dan Decker (Cornell University) and David Drake (Rutgers University), and was attended by James Anderson (West Virginia University), Tommy Brown (Cornell University), Paul Curtis (Cornell University), Bruce Menzel (USDA-CSREES), and Uma Ramakrishnan (Connecticut AES). The meeting commenced at 2:50 pm and adjourned at 3:07 pm.





The meeting focused on federal funding prospects for the Northeast Research and Extension Consortium (NEREC) 1001 titled: Piloting a Regional Research and Educational Approach to Integrated Deer Damage Management. A primary funding focus has been to support interest developing in Congress for a new, special federal grant appropriation of $1.5 million in each of the next 5 years to establish and implement the proposal, and to support its proposed annual competitive grants program in the NE. Mike Voiland (Cornell) provided a written update to Dan Decker and David Drake on the NEREC funding activities. Dan Decker and David Drake made copies of Mike Voiland`s update available to those in attendance and verbally summarized Mike`s written comments.





Working through the offices of New York Reps. James Walsh and Maurice Hinchey, funding for the project in FY 03-04 was sought via the congressional Special Regional and State Research Grant program, as administered by USDA/CSREES. Despite the enthusiasm and support of the project by the 2 aforementioned congressmen, a growing federal deficit and other procedural constraints agreed to by members of the House Subcommittee on Agricultural Appropriations precluded having any federal support appropriated for the project in FY 03-04. In fact, the subcommittee decided that no new projects were to be added to the USDA/CSREES Special Grants Program.





The prospects for project funding in FY 04-05 are not positive. Severe constraints exist in all federal discretionary spending categories within the Executive Budget proposal. On the positive side, both Reps. Walsh and Hinchey have come to understand the problem that exists with wildlife damage and the NEREC`s proposed plan to address that problem in the Northeast. The NEREC remains on the list of potential funding initiatives to receive federal support should budget deliberations and decisions allow for new special grant projects.

Accomplishments

Although successful efforts were made to contact select Congressional representatives to support funding NEREC1001, no new appropriations were allowed in the FY03-04 federal budget. We will continue to look for funding opportunities in the coming year.

Publications

No publications to report at this time.

Impact Statements

1. No impacts to report at this time.

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Report Information

Participants

Drake, David (drake@aesop.rutgers.edu) - Rutgers University; Decker, Dan (djd6@cornell.edu) -Cornell University; Curtis, Paul (pdc1@cornell.edu) - Cornell University; San Julian, Gary (gjs@psu.edu) - Penn State University; Anderson, James (jander25@wvu.edu) - West Virginia University; Menzel, Bruce (bmenzel@csrees.usda.gov) - USDA CSREES

Brief Summary of Minutes

Due to lack of forward progress because of limited Congressional funding opportunities, we unanimously decided to discontinue activities under NEREC 1001 heading and instead direct energy toward sustaining NE 1005 project. Therefore, our intention is to cease NEREC 1001 after this report.

Accomplishments

Due to lack of Congressional funding, we did not accomplish our stated expected outcomes and impacts. However, we were able to compile comprehensive data on negative impacts from deer in the northeastern United States. Our study was a first of its kind and serves as a baseline measurement for future research.

Publications

Drake, D., J. B. Paulin, P. D. Curtis, D. J. Decker, and G. J. San Julian. 2005.<br /> Assessment of negative economic impacts from deer in the northeastern<br /> United States. Journal of Extension 43(1).<br />

Impact Statements

1. Compiled comprehensive data on negative impacts from deer in the northeastern United States which will enable Extension and wildlife professionals to tailor outreach, research, and management options to better manage overabundant deer populations. Increased understanding of the stakeholders and impacts will also aid policy makers who need to evaluate the magnitude of issues as they weigh one constituency group against another.

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