Media Contacts
-
Cynthia Fowx
Conservation Outreach and Devil’s Den Preserve Manager
The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut
Phone: (203) 226 4991 Ext. 116
Email: cfowx@tnc.org -
Alex Armstrong
Marketing & Communications Director
The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut
Phone: (203) 434 4594
Email: alex.armstrong@tnc.org
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has announced that it will hold its annual controlled deer hunt at Devil’s Den Preserve during the state-designated firearms hunting season for private lands.
The hunt will take place on the following weekdays only: November 16-17 (Wednesday, Thursday); November 21-23 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday); November 28-December 1 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday); and December 5-6 (Monday, Tuesday). Devil’s Den will be closed to visitors on these days, and signs will be posted at all public entrances to the preserve. The Conservancy provides this information so that residents and their families, guests and tenants can make plans to refrain from visiting the preserve on these days.
TNC is working with experienced hunters with knowledge of the preserve and local area who will work only in select areas of the preserve’s interior away from any neighboring properties. Signs will be posted at all public entrances to the preserve.
The purpose of the controlled hunt, which has been held each fall since 2001, is to improve and maintain forest health by reducing the deer population. In recent decades, the high density of deer in southwestern Connecticut and associated overbrowsing have caused ecological damage in the region’s forests, harming the understory, limiting tree regeneration and contributing to the gradual loss of native flowering plant diversity.
The annual hunt, in combination with additional restoration efforts conducted by The Nature Conservancy and other conservation organizations contribute to improving and maintaining the resilience of forests in this region.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in more than 70 countries and territories, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.