The trails and parking areas in the Hilltop and Eagle Rock reservations are closed today, Tuesday, February 23 and they will be closed again on Thursday, February 25, for Essex County’s final hunting days to cull the reservations’ deer population. There will be marksmen in both parks from 5:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. The Highlawn Pavilion restaurant in Eagle Rock will be open, as will Prospect Avenue on the West Orange side of the park. But because the Hilltop Reservation spans both the east and west sides of Fairview Avenue, Fairview will be closed from Durrell Street in Verona to Myrtle Avenue in Cedar Grove from 5 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. For more information, call (973) 621-4400.
The huners are not marksmen.. they are volunteers who hunt. If they were marksmen they would not have left dying deer in the woods behind Linn Drive. Also, for the record, Joe Divincenzo has allowed the hunt to go on in inclement weather on three days, so the real reason for the cancellation of the last day had nothing to do with “projected weather”. But did have to do with either the many violations of the permit no.0089 as issued by the DEP. or perhaps due to the lawsuit/appeal that was filed.
For the money spent by Joe D they could have spayed/neutered and/or innoculated all the deer in the reservations and the surrounding towns.
It would be very helpful to the residents of the County if they were presented with facts, rather than just quote whatever the County Executive states. For example, Theresa Trapp of the Hilltop conservancy stated that there are no longer wolves and cougars or natural predators for the deer. These comments must have come from Joe D’s office, as his aide Joyce Goldman has stated this as well. In reality, the only natural predators the deer had were bears. We never had cougars or wolves in Hilltop or Eagle Rock.
M.English 973 857 3922
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