9.2. PRSR 01-10-2018 / Item: 9.2
Elk ............
Memorandum
River
To: Parks and Recreation Commission
From: Tim Sevcik,Park Superintendent
Date: January 5,2018
Subject: Staff Report
Skating Rinks
Staff worked throughout the holiday season on the skating rinks taking advantage of the cold weather.
Staff was able to get the Handke Pit and Lions John Weicht Park rinks open by Christmas Eve.
Following Christmas, staff began working on the neighborhood park rinks. The initial goal was to have
these rinks open by New Year's Eve;however snowfall prevented staff from accomplishing this goal.
Following the New Year's holiday, staff was able to get the neighborhood rinks at Kliever Lake Fields,
Mississippi Oaks and Riverplace open for public skating.
Deer Herd Management Hunts
The 2017 deer herd management program was an overall success for the parks with 15 deer being
harvested. Overall five adult bucks, two yearling bucks and eight does were harvested from the parks.
11 deer were harvested from Woodland Trails Regional Park, one from Alba Ridge,and one from
Hillside City Park;two additional deer were not recovered. Overall,443 deer observations were
reported by hunters throughout the hunts. Hunters reported being in the field 277 times throughout the
season conducting either a morning or evening sit on stand. There were no instances reported involving
members of the public with any of the hunters and no negative calls were received by city staff regarding
the hunts.
Overall,hunter participation was relatively good;however some hunters did not report any participation.
This is likely due to the fact that the MN DNR designated much of Elk River as a Hunter Choice zone
meaning hunters could only harvest one deer. This likely decreased hunter participation as hunters may
have harvested a deer outside of the hunts. The total bag limit likely also affected the hunter success
rate as many hunters passed up on opportunities to harvest a doe early in the season in hopes with filling
their tag with a mature buck.
POIVEREI I ?
N:\Departments\Parks and Recreation\Commission\Packets\2018\01-10-18 PRC Packet\8.2 Park Superintendents NATURE
Report.docx