Should Humbug Marsh target deer for hunting?

Humbug Marsh is such a perfect deer habitat that the deer have overrun the place. A flyover last winter counted 71 deer in an area experts say should have between five and 10.

“We’ve got way too many deer,” said Greg Norwood, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We cannot rehabilitate the native ecosystem here with that many deer. It’s unnatural.”

The wildlife service is proposing allowing bow hunters access to the marsh on a lottery basis to cull the herd over time. It is seeking public comment on the idea, through its website. The service will accept comments through Sept. 14.

If approved, the hunting would likely begin sometime in 2017 after completion of a visitor center planned for the site.

The part of the marsh eyed for the hunt is a 200-acre tract on the banks of the river near the intersection of Jefferson and Vreeland along the border of Trenton and Gibraltar. It’s part of the much larger Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, which covers more than 2,000 acres along the river and the banks of Lake Erie.

Hunting is allowed in other parts of the refuge, including the island portion of Humbug Marsh, but the mainland part of the marsh was left out of the original hunting plan. Federal law requires a public comment period before the hunting plan can be changed.

Norwood said the culling is needed to protect the marsh.

“They just overbrowse everything,” Norwood said. “They have certain plants that they don’t like to eat. Those plants become super abundant. You have an out-of-balance forest.”

Hunters will like the idea of hunting the mainland portion of the marsh because so much hunting ground Downriver is privately owned, said Dean Hall, 59, of Eastpointe, past president of Michigan Bow Hunters.

“Having deer there beyond the carry capacity is bad for other ground animals, including birds,” Hall said.

Hall said bow hunters have helped cull deer in metro parks, city parks and other urban areas where they have become too abundant.

“Most of the venison goes to Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger, which distributes the food to shelters that help the hungry,” he said.

But critics question the need for the hunt. Kent Webb, who runs the San Jose, Calif.-based website Deer Friendly — a research site that examines deer management, said nature will decide how many deer the property can support and the others will move on.

“The coyotes will keep the deer moving around,” Webb said. “That is what is needed for long-term regeneration.”

The marsh is one of the last remaining undeveloped portions of land on the Detroit River. The property includes old growth oak‐hickory forest, vernal wetlands, second‐growth forests and coastal marsh.

In 2004, the federal government bought the property for $4.1 million, ending an eight-year battle between preservationists and developers who wanted to build a golf course condominium complex on the site.

Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com

How to comment

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on the proposed hunting plan through Sept. 14. They can be mailed to

Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge

Large Lakes Research Station

9311 Groh Road

Grosse Ile, MI 48138

Or e-mail jody_demeyere@fws.gov.