A McCall wildlife ordinance seemed to pass after a vote at last week’s meeting, but the process will restart due to an error.
BoiseDev first reported on the proposal in June.
McCall City Council voted 3-2 in favor of the ordinance, which would prohibit feeding wildlife within city limits. However, Idaho Law requires the ordinance to be read three times over the course of three meetings. That didn’t happen, and now council members must start the process over.
Backers of the ordinance say the growth of deer in the city has caused nuances such as traffic hazards, increased complaints surrounding property damage, and more predators such as mountain lions coming into town.
Public comment
The ordinance received quite a bit of negative feedback from residents. Of the many comments submitted to the council last week, 142 were against the ordinance. Of those people, 69 had a McCall address.
“I find it to be barbaric at best,” McCall resident Pamela Leymaster wrote in a comment. “This was the home of the wild animals long before people decided to live here. One of the reasons we chose to move here was to be close with nature, not to watch humans destroy what so many of us come to love and appreciate.”
Many comments echoed a similar sentiment, and several people pointed out the “charm” of the town.
“Our McCall deer are, and always have been part of the charm of our area,” McCall resident Judy Gleason wrote in a comment. “This is terribly disturbing to think our City Council would think differently.”
Response & restarting
Fish and Game’s Regan Berkley and McCall’s Chief of Police Justin Williams were there to go over the ordinance and field questions. Many people believe that there is no way to eradicate the deer without killing the deer. Williams told the council that is not the case.
“This was never intended, and I realized that this is an emotional issue and people feel very strongly about this one way or another,” Williams said during the council meeting. “And we’re not trying nor was it the intent of a wildlife prohibition of feeding to eradicate deer, to euthanize deer, to somehow or another eliminate the animal population from the City of McCall. That was never our intent. It was something that we were trying to do, but we knew on the front side that if we came up with this particular ordinance that there was going to be some game management.”
McCall City Council will restart the process of the ordinance reading. However, if the council so chooses, they can vote to suspend the rules and forego the three meetings and readings rule.
