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