Good post Adam (courtesy of OWD's blog). Up here in the NE, the deer have come back in big numbers and browse the woods heavily and leave little forage or habitat for other wildlife. I have 3,000 acres of open space across the street - the only wildlife I come across are occasional garden variety songbirds and deer and coyote sign.
What many suburbanites see as peaceful woods are in fact peaceful wildlife deserts. But good luck trying to suggest controlled clearing to introduce successional forests and edge habitat!
And for hunters up here, there is no silver lining - unless you want to sign up for goose control on the local golf courses, or bow hunt 100lb deer - not hunting by any real measure. But then again, a state law prohibits discharging a firearm within 500' of a residence without the owner's permission - which now means that 60% of the land in MA is effectively off limits to hunting anyhow.
