Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced plans in West Orange on Monday for the third annual deer management program in Essex County.

As in two previous years, the program will continue in South Mountain Reservation.  This year, the program will be expanded to the county's Eagle Rock Reservation and Hilltop Reservation.

The deer hunt will be conducted over a six-week period starting January 19 and ending on February 25.  During that time period, the program will run two days a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Reducing the number of deer is part of the county's ongoing initiative to preserve and restore the natural forest ecology in Essex County's open spaces, according to county officials.

But the deer hunt has not been without controversy.

"They want habitat for birds and not deer, but to choose one species over another is just unconscionable," Janet Piszar, founder of Humane Essex County and Humane Milburn, told Patch back in the fall when the hunt for South Mountain Reservation was initially announced. "The forest is the deer's natural home; it's where they belong."

Piszar, one of many who oppose the hunt, said then that she plans to "make sure" that the hunt is an issue this year when County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. runs for re-election.

Piszar and other critics say they would prefer the county to manage the deer population with a new contraceptive called GonaCon.

DiVincenzo, who gave the hunt the green light, said in the fall that it's necessary to cull deer in order to give small plants and shrubs, which the deer eat, a chance to regenerate.

"Our forest is being destroyed," he said then.

According to DeVincenzo, the county has spent close to $1 million to restore native vegetation in the reservation.  DiVincenzo has indicated that he doesn't believe a contraceptive such as GonaCon would work on a wild, free-ranging deer population.

Some environmental professionals indicate that a healthy forest should have around 20 deer per square mile. It's estimated that South Mountain Reservation, for example, has 35 per square mile.

More than 200 deer were culled in 2008 and around 80 in 2009 in South Mountain Reservation.

Hunters must go through a screening process to participate in the program, according to county officials. They must all have more than five years of experience hunting whitetail deer, pass a marksmanship test, attend an orientation, and new hunters must be paired with veteran hunters.