Photo by Derek Redd A young buck grazes at Oglebay Park on Wednesday. A group of local residents have filed a petition in circuit court to stop an upcoming deer culling at Oglebay.

By Emma Delk

Staff Writer

Fourteen Wheeling residents have filed a petition to prevent Oglebay’s Urban Deer Hunt, with Brooke County Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo to determine in a hearing next Friday whether the culling will be canceled.

Filed by Toriseva Law on Tuesday night, the petition outlines that Oglebay executives have “no scientific basis” for the perceived overpopulation of deer at the park, have made no attempts “to stop the reason the deer are tame” and have “marketed and benefitted” from the hand-feeding of deer at the park.

Believing that Oglebay has “usurped and abused their power to conduct this hunt under these circumstances,” plaintiffs are asking for an injunction from Cuomo to prevent the hunt scheduled for Nov. 6-8.

On top of canceling the culling, the plaintiffs are requesting the court enforce West Virginia no-feeding laws at the park.

The petition outlines that both “baiting and hand-feeding” are illegal on public land in West Virginia to prevent “the very problem created.”

The “problem” next month’s culling seeks to remedy is the deer overpopulation in Oglebay. The park cites a study by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources 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.

This DNR study is called into question by the petition, which claims, “There is no scientific support for this position.”

The plaintiffs say that the 2017 survey performed by West Virginia University Extension Wildlife Specialist Sheldon Owen 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,” states the petition.

The document not only takes issue with the evidence Oglebay has supplied to justify the culling but also why Oglebay has deer overpopulation in the first place. The petition claims the defendants “have created the problem of a tame, hand-fed deer herd.” Describing that Oglebay deer are hand-fed by both locals and tourists who stay at the park, plaintiffs claim that, as a result, “the deer at the park have become tame.”

“The Oglebay Foundation uses these tame deer as marketing for the Park and for its encouragement for donors to give money to the Park,” said plaintiffs. “The Foundation calls Oglebay Deer “special” and encourages you to make memories that include guests being near Oglebay.”

With the petition claiming that defendants “acknowledge a problem” regarding their deer population, they believe Oglebay has “waited years to do anything about it.”

The petition cites executives at Oglebay Park discussing the deer population “as early as 2016.”

The plaintiffs also point to an email sent in 2021 by a representative of the Good Zoo to the former DNR Assistant Chief Of Game Management describing “challenges with guests to the Park feeding the deer on the Park property.”

The petition claims that “the defendants could have stopped the illegal hand-feeding at any time,” but “upon information and belief,” there have been no attempts by Oglebay “at less violent and drastic measures to address any possible overpopulation.”

Oglebay officials could not be reached for comment as of Wednesday evening.

Emphasizing that Oglebay continues to spend public funds instead of “exploring solutions to the problem,” the plaintiffs say that the defendants chose to spend thousands of dollars on an out-of-town public relations firm to manage the public backlash.

Orion Strategies charges Oglebay “$5,000.00 to manage the public relations up to and for the event,” the document says, as well as “$6,000.00 per month to manage the ongoing public relations issues.”

The plaintiffs also take issue with the Deer Management Plan Orion Strategies created for the park in what they believe to be “an effort to calm individuals who object to the intentional killing of Oglebay deer.”

“The plan misstates W.V. Code 20-2-12(a) when it states that transporting wildlife out of state is illegal,” said plaintiffs. “Nowhere in the cited code does it say that a public herd cannot be reduced under a controlled plan of relocation.

Saying that the plan divides the community with “half-truths and supported factual claims,” plaintiffs also believe the plan could have outlined clearer regulations for the hunt.

Pointing out that the plan has no solution for adjacent landowners when an injured deer wanders onto their property, the petition also takes issue with the plan having no requirements for the hunters to kill only sick or weak deer.

“Hunters are permitted to take large, healthy, even trophy-sized specimens,” said plaintiffs. “The hunters certainly will do that and leave the sick and unhealthy deer, which negates the asserted benefit of the hunt.”

Plaintiffs also note that the Deer Management Plan “intentionally omits that hand-feeding is illegal under W.V Code.”

Due to Oglebay ordering the hunt with “no scientific study” and making no attempt to correct the “illegal hand-feeding that it unlawfully permits,” plaintiffs believe the Wheeling Park Commission has “abused, usurped and exceeded its legitimate power to govern the Park.”

The petition clarifies that plaintiffs are not asking the court to prevent the commission from ever having a culling but instead requesting that the commission authorize a deer hunt “within the bounds of its authority.”

Before ordering a culling, the petition asks that Oglebay comply with the existing laws to prevent the hand-feeding that will prevent “tame deer that congregate when the public shows up to feed them.”

“The deer are an important part of Oglebay Park, and Oglebay Park is a public park for the benefit of all people,” state plaintiffs. “The public enjoys the deer at Oglebay Park, so the preservation of Oglebay Park’s wildlife is clearly in the public’s best interest.”