I have read Terry Knight”s, Outdoorsman in the Record-Bee for many years. It is always great and one of the only reasons I buy the paper. In the Aug. 11 column, as well as several over the years, “people moving into the county,” seems to be the No. 1 scapegoat as to why the deer herd is declining. While I don”t disagree it has an impact, I doubt it is a big a cause as the other things mentioned in the column such as lack of control burning and high predation. One drive through Hidden Valley or the Clear Lake Riviera will show the highest concentration of deer in Lake County, right alongside all those people moving into the county.
Points that were not brought up in this column, although I believe touched on in the past, is the obvious impact the wine industry has had on the deer population; 8-foot tall fences and every square inch of thousands of acres of land used for the purpose of an alcoholic beverage. Another would be the poaching/killing of deer and extended presence of people tending to their high-valued illegal crops in our national forests.
David Meek Jr.
Lakeport
