Amended Petition Questions WVDNR’s Involvement in Oglebay Deer Hunt Plan
Photo by Shelley Hanson Trending
WHEELING -- An amendment to the petition filed by 14 Wheeling residents to prevent Oglebay's urban deer hunt alleges that Oglebay has "consistently and repeatedly lied" about the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources' involvement in providing an estimate of the amount of deer at the park.
The document also states that the WVDNR has "not authorized" the Nov. 6-8 deer culling at the park.
Brooke County Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo will determine in a hearing next Friday whether the hunt will be canceled.
The original petition filed Tuesday asks for an injunction from Cuomo to cancel the hunt, outlining that Oglebay has "no scientific basis" for the perceived overpopulation of deer at the park, has made no attempts "to stop the reason the deer are tame" and have "marketed and benefited" from the hand-feeding of deer at the park.
Next month's culling seeks to remedy the deer overpopulation in Oglebay, with the park citing a study by the WVDNR that states the deer population at Oglebay Resort is five times the optimal amount per square mile for the region, presenting a safety concern for both resort guests and the deer herd.
The new amendment filed on Friday calls Oglebay's citing of this study into question, saying that the defendants have "consistently and repeatedly lied" in both printed materials and to news outlets regarding whether the WVDNR made this statement.
"The DNR did not conduct a population study, count or estimation of Oglebay Deer," the plaintiffs claim. "There is no document from the DNR that states Oglebay Deer are overpopulated."
In the first filing, the petition connects the number of deer being "five times the optimal amount per square mile for the region" to a 2017 study performed by West Virginia University Extension Wildlife Specialist Sheldon Owen.
In the petition, plaintiffs take issue with this study, saying it consists of "predetermined routes and areas in a strip of 156 yards."
"This survey could show there may have been an over-congregation of deer in the 156 yards of the sampled area of hand-feeding, but not necessarily an overpopulation throughout the entire 2,000 acres," the petition states.
In response, Owen explained that the survey was not a "complete count" but rather a "representative sample of the Oglebay property."
"Transects were chosen to remove overlap of line-of-sight to avoid double counting deer and cover as much of the property as possible," Owen said. "Distance sampling, like the survey conducted in 2017, is a science-based and statistically-based survey technique."
To demonstrate that the WVDNR had no involvement in giving an estimated number of deer in Oglebay, an email by Thomas Pratt, a wildlife biologist from District 1 of the WVDNR, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request sent from Toriseva's Law Firm, was highlighted.
Pratt explains in the email the "only email communication" he had with Oglebay was the park sending him a "draft of their rules" for the hunt.
"They asked me to look over to which corrections had to be made, and I was never sent a final copy," Pratt wrote in the email. "No surveys, population estimates, nor permits were discussed or given."
Claiming that Oglebay has "baselessly invoked the authority of the DNR," the petition says this has caused "many news outlets to believe they are truthfully reporting these facts."
"Hearing this repeated and relentless reporting, the public believes the DNR has counted the Oglebay Deer, found them to be overpopulated, and because of that, authorized this hunt," said plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs also specify that by "not submitting a final version of the rules" to Pratt, Oglebay has "incompletely communicated with the DNR." The document then explains this has left the DNR with "unanswered questions" regarding Oglebay's final rules for the hunt and deer operations.
Another email exchange included in the amendment details another way plaintiffs believe Oglebay has misled the public regarding the culling.
In the emails, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Oglebay Herb Faulkenberry asks DNR Law Enforcement Sgt. Steve Himmelrick if it was "illegal" to "move" deer to another part of the state.
The petition states that on the same day, Sgt. Himmelrick confirmed by email, "It is illegal to move wild animals from one location to another without prior approval from West Virginia Division of Natural Resources."
"Relocating is permissible with DNR approval, but the Defendants did not seek any such approval," said plaintiffs.
Lawyer Teresa Toriseva adds that "hunting on public land is illegal in WV."
"Contrary to what Oglebay has stated publicly and repeatedly, the WVDNR has not permitted or approved this hunt," said Toriseva. "Worse than that, WVDNR did not do population studies in Oglebay and weren't asked to do so."
Oglebay CEO Bob Peckenpaugh could not be reached for comment regarding the amended petition.
In response to the original filing, Peckenpaugh said, "Our team is reviewing the legal filing and preparing to proceed with a thoughtful and appropriate course of action that best fits with the needs of our park and the local community. "
The WVDNR could not be reached for comment on the amended petition.