BY HANNAH SPANGLER
Farmers who frequently face crop damage from nuisance deer are even closer to relief.
The Illinois Senate voted 51-0 Thursday afternoon to pass Senate Bill 710.
The legislation, which implements changes to the Wildlife Code to address deer overpopulation, now moves to the Illinois House.
The bill had advanced out of committee earlier Thursday morning, after Senate Agriculture Committee members voted unanimously to send the bill to the full Senate, where it was also approved unanimously.
“Illinois farmers, who are experiencing substantial crop damage and lower yields, need a better way to manage deer populations on their farms,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Joyce, D-Essex. “This bill would give these farmers the tools they need to handle nuisance deer during the growing season.
“I would like to thank the Illinois Farm Bureau for bringing the concerns from farmers across the state to my office and working with us to find a solution.”
Illinois Farm Bureau Director of State Legislation Chris Davis (left), bill sponsor IL Sen. Patrick J Joyce, D-Kankakee (middle) and IFB Associate Director of State Legislation Anna McKinley (right) attended the Senate Ag Committee Hearing Thursday morning that saw SB 710 advance with a unanimous vote.
Speaking on the Senate floor in favor of the bill, state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said he knew of a farmer in his district who sustained $45,000 in crop damages from deer. He said the damages may lead to increased food costs and deer overpopulation may also contributed to increased traffic crashes.
“It’s beyond time we do this,” Rose said. “It’s beyond time we have some reasonable culling of the deer population for the sanity of our farmers, for the safety and sanity of our citizens, for the health of the deer population itself and, frankly, for the health of everyone’s pocketbooks at the grocery store and when you pay your car insurance bill every month.”
State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, echoed his sentiment, saying a pumpkin producer in her district reported losing 10% of their crop last year from deer damage alone.
“I hope everyone here is listening to how important this bill is,” Bryant said. “It isn’t just about hunting deer; this is really ... saving our economy of Illinois.”
If the bill is later adopted by the General Assembly, provisions include:
Nuisance deer removal permit process
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) would be directed to implement rules for its Deer Removal Permit (DRP) procedures and criteria. This includes implementing a timeline for an IDNR biologist to respond to a DRP request, ensuring farmers can deal with a deer nuisance issue promptly. IDNR would need to have information about Deer Removal Permits, including relevant information, criteria and directions for applying, on their website.
This legislation would also create two new provisions for nuisance permitting, enabling landowners who request a DRP and fulfill 50% of the permit to qualify for the automatic issuance of additional antlerless permits during the regular hunting season. If landowners fulfills 80% of the permit, they will be eligible for the automatic issuance of an additional nuisance permit. This will be valid for five deer and can be used between June 1 and Sept. 15 of the following calendar year.
Additionally, the legislation would allow anyone to destroy deer on behalf of a landowner with a DRP as long as that person meets the requirements to hunt in Illinois.
Regular hunting season
The creation of the “guest landowner permit” is another piece of this legislation IFB strongly supports. For every 240 acres of owned Illinois land, a landowner may designate a hunter to receive one guest landowner permit, including one either sex permit and one antlerless permit.
“If you have someone who wants to come hunt on your land exclusively, they no longer have to worry about receiving shotgun permits through the lotteries or over the counter, guaranteeing they get a shotgun permit as long as they're hunting on your land,” said Anna McKinley, IFB assistant director of state legislation. “It’s going to guarantee that if you've got someone who wants to hunt your land, they get the tags.”
Guest landowner permits will be subject to the same season and take method as regular hunting season. A hunter using a guest landowner permit will also need to pay all fees required for regular shotgun permits.
For youth hunting season, youth hunters would be allowed one either sex permit and one antlerless deer permit. Formally, youth were only allocated one either sex permit, so this legislation would give youth more hunting season opportunities.
Other aspects
The legislation extends the definition of landowners to include those who are income beneficiaries of a trust that owns land. It also includes grandparents and grandchildren in the definition of immediate family for the purpose of landowner permit eligibility.
“I am thrilled to see this necessary legislation moving forward,” McKinley told FarmWeek. “We are grateful for all of IDNR's efforts and the grassroots involvement of our members throughout this entire process."