MCCALL, Idaho — People who live in the mountain resort town of McCall are used to seeing wildlife.
The forests and lakes in the higher elevations are prime property for deer, elk, bears, foxes and other Idaho species.
What's supposed to happen in the winter, though, is that those animals should migrate to lower elevations in search of food.
But for decades, McCall residents have made that search for sustenance easier by feeding some of the wildlife, either because they fear they may starve, or because they just want to give them a reason to stick around.
Idaho Fish and Game estimates a herd of deer that roam McCall in the winter is now around 200 animals.
That’s why for the last several months McCall's city council has been considering outlawing the feeding of wildlife to help diminish that deer population.
This isn't a new consideration, the subject that has popped up several times before.
Over the last couple of months, we've heard from the police chief who claims the herd has become a safety issue.
And we've heard from Fish and Game who brought up the concern of disease spreading among the deer.
But what do the residents think about the proposal?
We spoke with Melanie Holmes who told KTVB that most people who live there are not in favor of it.
Holmes admits this is an emotional issue. There's an affection for the deer because that's part of the charm of McCall. But that doesn't mean she can't take a rational approach to it as well.
"You know the deer have been here 60 plus years if not more, I've talked to many old timers," Melanie said.
"This has been going on for a long time in McCall, and if they change it now, what are you worried about?" Brian Holmes asked.
"I'm worried about a lot of things actually," Melanie said. "I'm concerned about the character of our town, I'm concerned the community is not behind this action, they do not want the ordinance. There's been over 500 comments that I've seen that simply don't want the council to make this decision based on what will happen going forward."
"The chief of police mentioned that the issue is safety, for people and the animals. They've had aggressive deer, it's drawing mountain lions in to hunt these deer, and they're also you know having to clean up dead or injured animals that have been hit by cars," Brian remarked.
"Number one, this is not new, this has been going on for many decades, and this is a people problem, let's be clear this is a person problem, it's not an animal problem. People are speeding, there's more traffic, and they just need to slow down and the speed limits need to be enforced. But ultimately none of what you just quoted is new, with wilderness comes wildlife," Melanie said.
"Is your issue with this ordinance the feeding or the relocating of the deer?" Brian asked.
"It's the relocating. I have no problem with this ordinance as written, I think it would actually be a good ordinance to have in town, my problem is the reaction from Fish and Game," Melanie said.
While the ordinance itself doesn't include the involvement of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the agency is tasked with managing the state's wildlife.
So city leaders asked them what would happen if they made feeding wildlife in McCall illegal?
Well, those deer would have to find food elsewhere, and that would likely mean relocating and returning them to their natural migratory pattern.
Melanie says that's her biggest concern.
"As a private citizen I'm disturbed by this management plan and I've done a lot of research, and you know Utah has discontinued this plan altogether along with Washington and Oregon, citing 50 percent survival rates in a move, so the deer just don't survive it," she said.
Melanie is referring to a 2019 article from Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources where 50 percent of their relocated mule deer didn't make it.
But that's not the same data Idaho Fish and Game is seeing.
"What we have seen when we look at studies, studies that look at a whole bunch of trap and translocate programs, the average mortality during the trapping is about 45 percent, and then upon release they experience between 20-25 percent mortality, and that's just basically the effect of them getting used to new surroundings and new threats that are different than what they have existed with in town before," said Regan Berkley, Idaho Fish and Game.
"20-25 percent, how does that compare to what McCall saw even just last winter?" Brian asked.
"So last winter between police department and Idaho Fish and Game, we responded to 40 calls for injured, dead or dying deer in town, if we look at 150 to 200 total deer in town that's already a mortality rate in the 20-25 percent range," Berkley said.
"So you're saying whether they're dying in town or they're dying when they're relocated, it's kind of a wash but you're not making it worse by relocating them," Brian remarked.
"That is our hope absolutely, if during any of the trap and translocate process we see that something is going wrong, we'll step back and reevaluate absolutely, based on those things we've done before, based on studies from across the country and years, it looks like a trap and translocate program isn't really that different from what they're experiencing now," Berkley said.
Those 40 calls last winter Fish and Game referred to are only the ones they knew about, so the mortality rate of deer in town could be higher.
Melanie believes an approach like this with Fish and Game is an over-controlling overreach by a government agency.
And while there have been sightings of mountain lions in McCall, she says there hasn't been any reported incidents.
The passage of the ordinance hit a snag during the McCall City Council meeting on July 8. Staff members presented an ordinance to prohibit wildlife feeding inside city limits. The five councilors had two decisions to make that evening, one vote to suspend the rules, referring to the actual reading of the ordinance, and the other considering its adoption.
Although the council voted 3-2 to pass the wildlife feeding ordinance, the ordinance was not adopted due to a procedural error regarding the suspension of the rules.
Idaho code 50-902 states that to pass an ordinance, the ordinance must be read three times at three different meetings, with the first two readings by title and the third reading in full.
The vote to suspend the second and third readings requires four affirmative votes (1/2 plus one of the entire council) for the motion to pass per that same code. That evening, the vote was 3 in favor and 2 against the suspension of the rules. Therefore, the motion should have failed, but the City Council proceeded with a single reading and vote. Since the motion should not have been approved, the second vote to adopt the ordinance was void. Although there was a reading by title only, it was not in the context of three readings.
The process will be restarted to correct the error, with three readings at three different meetings. At each meeting, the council could choose to vote for a suspension of the rules. Please note that only the suspension of the rules requires a ½ plus one affirmative vote. The adoption of the ordinance only takes an affirmative majority vote to pass (3-2).
The ordinance carries a fine of $100.
The trap and translocate process is a bit more costly.
Fish and Game estimates if this ordinance goes into effect it could cost as much as $50,000 to move the deer.
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- And we also turn each episode into a podcast on Podbean
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too: