Dollars For Deer: Conservation Foundation Launches New Incentive Program For Hunters

In the latest sign of how seriously island organizations are taking Nantucket’s deer overpopulation and food insecurity crises, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation will pay hunters $150 for each deer they donate to islanders in need this season.

The Nantucket Conservation Foundation has set aside $30,000 for the new initiative, enough to cover 200 deer. That’s only 2 percent of Nantucket’s enormous deer population, but combined with the other programs pushed by local agencies and the state, it could start to chip away at what is believed to be the densest deer population in Massachusetts.

“Nantucket's deer herd is far larger than the land can support, and that imbalance affects everything from tick-borne illness to the health of our forests," said Danielle O’Dell, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s director of research. “This program gives hunters a strong incentive to help bring the herd back into balance, and turns that work into real food for the community.”

To qualify for the payments, hunters must donate the deer to the Nantucket Land Bank’s agricultural processing center at 19 Boynton Lane. Entering its second year of operation this fall, the Land Bank’s processing center accepts whole deer under the state's Hunters Share the Harvest Program, which allows hunters to take unlimited deer if they donate the venison to qualified processors, who then distribute it to people facing food insecurity.

Nearly one in five Nantucket residents struggle with food insecurity, a crisis that has recently begun to garner more attention after languishing in the shadows of the higher-profile housing crisis for years. Much of that attention is the result of the efforts of Nourish Nantucket, a local food security nonprofit that partnered with the Land Bank to purchase the Boynton Lane property that houses the agricultural processing facility—as well as a permanent home for the island’s only food pantry.

But other organizations, like the Land Bank and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, are also getting involved. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation has donated cranberries from its active local bogs to food security efforts in the past, but the deer donation incentive program is largely unprecedented.

“It is the first of its kind. It's absolutely historic,” Nantucket Conservation Foundation community outreach manager Samantha Denette told the Current. “It's where deer management meets food security.”

Last year, the Land Bank processed 59 deer through the Hunters Share the Harvest program, which is managed by MassWildlife, the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. That was easily a record for Nantucket, as the Land Bank’s operation was the first effort to process deer for the program backed by an established organization with significant financial resources after previous operations relied on private individuals without institutional backing. This year, the Land Bank hopes to process more deer, and expand the impact of the program.

The incentive offered by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation could help to achieve that goal. To qualify for the incentive, hunters must submit a W-9 tax form to the Nantucket Conservation Foundation at the time of donation. Donations will be accepted starting October 5th, when the Land Bank’s facility opens for the season. The facility will not be open, and incentives will not be paid, during the early hunting season, which has already begun.

If the take of deer on Nantucket ticks up this year as a result of the incentive program, it wouldn’t just provide more meat to islanders who may otherwise struggle to afford it. It would also help put a dent in the island’s deer herd, a goal of several local organizations and the state of Massachusetts, which could help reduce the incidence of tick-borne diseases on Nantucket.

“Caring for Nantucket's land and caring for its people go hand in hand,” Cormac Collier, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s CEO and President said. “This program is a good example of what that looks like in practice. It's a practical way for the island to take care of its land and its neighbors together.”

The massive herd of deer on Nantucket - which the state biologist pegs at a population of 10,000 - is a public health threat. Deer are notorious vectors of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and pose a serious risk to drivers and motorists. Additionally, they contribute to the decline of Nantucket’s native vegetation by devouring the understory across the island, which has major consequences for island ecosystems and can increase rates of erosion. The deer population is, broadly speaking, also unhealthy: many of the deer are emaciated and starving, forcing them to eat plants they would normally avoid and even consume trash.

“We have always supported responsible hunting,” Denette told the Current. “What's exciting and unique about this program is we are able to work with our island partners on creating community benefit.”

The deer issue has even driven disputes before the island’s Historic District Commission over fencing, one of which recently made it to the courts.

The state is doing what it can, expanding hunting seasons, offering unlimited hunting permits, and even raising the possibility of programs that would allow the controlled killing of deer outside of deer season. But it hasn’t been enough. Neither was Nantucket’s record deer season last year, which drew hunters from across New England and saw a total of almost 1,000 deer killed.

The only viable way to reduce Nantucket’s deer population, protecting the island’s environment and combatting tick-borne illnesses, appears to be killing more deer. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s new incentives may help to further those goals.