County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. celebrated the reforestation of 24 acres of the South Mountain Reservation Tuesday at a press event, while tying the controversial deer culling program to regrowth of the underbrush and public safety.

"As long as I am the county executive, we will continue the deer management program, we will continue to regenerate the Reservation, and we will keep our county residents safe," DiVincenzo told a friendly crowd that was largely comprised of participants in the project.

DiVincenzo was on site at the South Mountain Reservation Dog Park to announce the completion of replanting and the reintroduction of thousands of native plants in 42 fenced-in enclosures in the park. The enclosures range in size from 14 acres (an area located just behind the speakers' podium) to one-tenth of an acre. South Mountain Conservancy Chair Dennis Percher described how the Reservation was in dire condition and in need of "dramatic" action due to years of neglect and overfeeding by a large deer population. 

Percher told of how he and DiVincenzo were of like minds when they first talked about such a project on February 25, 2008. Percher expressed amazement that such a large and complex project was planned, approved, paid for and executed in such a relatively short period of time. "Where we stand today is very exciting. And it's due to vision, dedicated people and the proper use of public funds."

Speaking of funds, the project cost $120,000 for project design (contract awarded to Barreto Dowd) and $697,300 for installation of the fencing and planting of native vegetation (performed by Andy Matt Inc. after a competitive bid process). Essex County and the South Mountain Conservancy received a grant from the NJ Green Acres program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund to support the project. Project management was performed by Kathy Salisbury of the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.

Construction of fencing and planting began in April and was completed in five months.

The County Executive followed numerous other speakers, all of whom stressed how deer culling went hand in hand with regeneration of the forest underbrush. "Working on the forest is the flip side of the deer culling," said Percher.

Biologist Michael Van Clef, who was one of the architects of the original concept, said that the reforestation was a careful balancing act. He used the analogy of "guests and hors d'oeuvres" to describe the deer population issue. When you have too many guests (deer), you run out of hors d'oeuvres (plants) resulting, in this case, in "empty forest syndrome." The idea, Van Clef said, is "to reduce the number of guests and increase the number of hors d'oeuvres."

The fencing, which is designed to be in place for 25 years, should increase the number of plants. The culling will simultaneously reduce the number of deer, giving the plants and seeds generated in the enclosures a chance to spread to other parts of the Reservation.

DiVincenzo was lauded by the other speakers. Troy Ettel, Director of Conservation and Stewardship for the NJ Audobon Society thanked the executive for "making the tough political decisions" necessary to both cull the deer and fund the program. DiVincenzo, in return, threw credit back to Dennis Percher. "This is all Dennis' concept."

DiVincenzo was the only speaker to address public safety. Noting that the number of deer carcasses removed from County roads had been shrinking steadily over the last three years, he credited the culling along with deterrent alarms that frighten deer away when cars approach. Thus far, the alarms have been installed on Cherry Lane. The County will announce additional roadways slated to receive the deterrent alarms at a press event next week.