I don’t know if we are the typical Port Townsend family of four. We own a house here. We have a business here. Our kids go to the public schools, participate in sports. We are involved with Jefferson County 4H and the Girls Boat Project. We did all those things and more until the third week in March when Governor Inslee declared a state of emergency, sent everyone home, and everything stopped.
It was a busy time. We ceased operations at our successful business of twenty years that was now deemed non-essential. Our entire staff, six long-term employees, were put on standby effective immediately. All but unavoidable expenses were cut, including our paychecks, in an effort to keep the business on life support until…when? Nobody was saying for sure. We heard a couple of weeks, a couple of months, a couple of years.
I spent the first week contacting county, state, and federal representatives letting them know about the serious damage being done to small business in Jefferson County. I was also searching for a letter or waiver that would allow us to continue running a business that had always been essential to my family. Without the employees we now couldn’t afford, we could operate within Center for Disease Control, Wuhan Covid Virus protocols. The few orders still trickling in came via Internet or phone. They were processed by one person, my wife, the owner, at our office, and then shipped via USPS or UPS. All other details were managed remotely, including evenings with the family gathered around the kitchen table, sorting, bagging and labeling product.
When I heard back from the governor, it was a form email stating he was too busy to reply. When I heard back from the few local and state representatives that did reply, they told me the governor wasn’t returning their phone calls. They suggested we, “Do what we need to do”
At home we went through the same process, all spending cut except food, and utilities. We applied to our bank for forbearance on our mortgage, this put off monthly payments for six months. We did whatever could be done, to stretch what we had, for a long as possible with the plan that if we could keep the business afloat, we might be able to earn an income again somewhere down the road.
I became the person who went out for groceries once a week. My wife and two daughters stayed home. We had no contact with or physical proximity to anyone other than to say “hello” to friends and neighbors who might be out in their yards or passing by while walking around town.
I am not a teacher. I struggled with schooling for my sixteen and thirteen year old daughters. I had my doubts regarding the switch to online schooling. The sudden closure seemed to leave the teachers in the unenviable position of figuring out how to do this on their own. It seems that the bugs are being worked out. My kids do their assigned work such as it is, and have adapted effortlessly to Internet instruction and Zoom meetings. Regardless, they miss the interaction of a classroom. Their teachers tell us the same.
As a family we discuss this wild experience every day. We debate the economic shut down. We debate the latest news regarding the virus. We debate the mask/no mask protocol, and are pretty sure the people driving their cars around town solo with masks on and windows rolled up will be just fine after all this is over. We debate why the young and healthy who are not affected by the virus aren’t allowed to re-start an economy while the older folks and others who are at risk stay at home. Most sadly we debate the fate of our town as event after event is cancelled and a business like Aldrich’s closes. We ponder who, or what, will be lost next. We are learning not to be surprised.
We exercise as a family just about every day, usually in the evening, often walking along Water Street. Our commercial district is a ghost town. The only thing missing are tumbleweeds.
As I walk the empty streets I think about the chatter on social media that Port Townsend shouldn’t be in a hurry to re-open. The idea being if everyone–owners, employees, landlords–are doing okay with government grants and unemployment, then we should take our time. As a family invested in the vitality of this place, we hope this isn’t true.
Yes, we all bought in on some level to the stay-at-home concept so as not to overload our health care system. Historic precedents were provided. Yet even during the Spanish Flu of 1918, with the exceptions of theaters and dance halls, businesses were not forced to close.
I was impressed, to say the least, by the government’s ability to arbitrarily shut whole sectors of our economy in an instant. I am less impressed, and I will admit downright befuddled, when this same government, all the way down to local city councils, doesn’t seem to have the appetite or the ability to get it back up and running.
For my family the path to our recovery will be paved by a strong economy. For the sake of all families in this town, present and future, we have to find a way to keep all businesses open while we deal with this pandemic, or the next one. It has been my experience over the last few weeks that government can’t do this for us. Instead, we have to show government we can do it for ourselves. The longer we wait, the higher the price to be paid by future generations.
I mentioned in my last opinion piece that the city made a good start by banning the feeding of deer within city limits. In speaking with the city, and state fish and game representatives, it seems that there is more to come. Expect a long process involving public input.
What none of us should want is an expensive process. I have a concern with the recent history of the City Council acting “in good faith” to solve a problem with a solution that seems like a bargain, only to have the price balloon to an extraordinary amount with little or nothing to show for the effort. (See Cherry Street Affordable Housing Project)
In the meantime imagine my surprise when, in the process of researching human/deer conflicts, I discovered that Western Washington is home to the black-legged deer tick that carries Lyme disease. Adding to my newfound knowledge, I stumbled across at least one Port Townsend resident who contracted Lyme disease in the last couple of years from a tick bite received while working in their yard.
Scientists believe the pipeline for Lyme disease operates as follows: As black-legged tick larva mature into nymphs they feed on mice carrying the infectious bacteria, Borrelia Burgdorferi. As the nymphs mature into ticks they feed on larger animals, primarily deer. Deer bring the nymphs and ticks into proximity to humans when they browse through our landscaping and pause for a siesta under the camellia bush. The deer wander off. Nymphs, the size of a poppy seed, and ticks, slightly larger, are left behind to find a human or pet host. This might be you, your kids, or the dog playing in the yard. The ticks find their way onto your skin, latch on in search of a blood meal, and pass on to you the infectious bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease is a serious, potentially debilitating illness.
The Washington State Department of Health recommends that the best way to protect yourself is to reduce your exposure. If staying indoors doesn’t suit your plans, know that ticks need to be attached for at least 36 hours to transfer the bacteria. You should inspect yourself and your children for evidence of ticks and remove them immediately.
There is no vaccine yet. If you are infected, symptoms usually appear in three days to three weeks. If identified early, Lyme disease can usually be cured with anti-biotics. If you miss the symptoms and discover you have the disease a year later, there is no effective treatment. Arthritis, fatigue, mental issues, and severe headaches are long-term side effects.
The disease is rare in Port Townsend, for now. The County Health Department tells me there have been ten cases of Lyme disease reported in the last ten years, only two of which were verified as originating in Jefferson County. Some experts say climate change could make our region more favorable to deer ticks. The Jefferson County Health department has begun discussing what that may mean for Jefferson County residents. Regardless, if we reduce the number of deer, we reduce the number of tick transports that can spread infection to humans. Yes, Lyme disease rare, perhaps that is reassuring. But what if it is your child an infected tick finds? That one case could mean the world to you and your family. It will not seem like an outlier to you.
It is not just the threat of diseased ticks that pose real hazards. Deer can be killers.
A dog was killed by a deer in November 2019 in Uptown Port Townsend on Clay Street a block from my house. I have learned that it was on a long retractable leash, and was killed by a buck. The local Fish and Game wardens were unable to do much because they could not identify which of the many bucks in this neighborhood might be responsible. Even if they could locate the exact animal they would need evidence of continued aggressive behavior towards the public to justify any action.
Bucks are aggressive during the rut in the fall. Does can be very aggressive in the spring when they have their fawns. Deer kill dogs in urban neighborhoods just about every year. The dog does not have to be aggressive towards the deer to warrant an attack. If you try to protect your dog you may become a target as well.
I welcome the public process and a healthy debate, but I don’t believe we should spend time or money on half measures like deer sterilization or air gun administered birth control. The most immediate and cost effective solution is to harvest these deer on an annual basis. If we had feral dogs wandering around town, they would be removed. If we had wild cows grazing on the courthouse lawn, they would be removed. Feral dogs and cows are not tolerated in Port Townsend. Let’s add deer to the list as well.
The City of Port Townsend did something good. On October 7, 2019 ordinance
3233 was added to section 9.08.020 of the municipal code. Human feeding of wild
ducks, geese, gulls and deer within the city limits is now listed as a public nuisance.
The key species here is deer. Everybody has an opinion of what to do and why the city
has been so slow to address this issue. Should be an easy fix right? I mean out in the
county you can just shoot them, in season of course. Cougars deal with the surplus.
So it should be easy. I have delved into the topic. It is not easy. As a public service to
the community, let me share what I have found.
White tail deer in the United States have experienced an unprecedented recovery,
from a low of about 500,000 in the early 1900’s to as many as 30,000,000 today. Natural predators are mostly gone, especially in urban areas. Lawns and gardens provide an abundance of food. We can congratulate ourselves on saving a species. Then I look out our window to see what my neighbor has nicknamed “rats with stilts” devouring our roses, poppies, lettuce, lilacs, grapevines, tulips, raspberries, laurel, and fruit trees while laying down a layer of manure, flea eggs, and ticks where-ever they linger.
This is not a problem unique to our town. It is happening all across the country. Even New York City is dealing with an over-abundance of deer.
Ask a wildlife ecologist to sum up the impact of this success and you will hear the term apocalyptic more often than not. At an estimated rate of 2000 pounds of vegetation consumed per animal, per year, we have a plague of hundred pound locusts clearing forests of everything except for mature trees and the few plants they won’t eat. This devastates habitat for game birds and songbirds, and can affect these environments for centuries. The impact on the human population is equally severe.
“Struck by cars, trucks, motorcycles, more than a million times a year, with
accidents killing more than 100 people annually and causing more than $1
billion in damage, the human toll makes deer deadlier than sharks, alligators,
bears and rattlesnakes combined.” Out Of Control; Deer Send Ecosystems Into Chaos, by Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times, 2002.
In Port Townsend we have black tail not white tail deer, but that is where the difference ends. Anybody who has witnessed the deer plague develop over the last two decades can see that our homegrown herd has exceeded the carrying capacity of the natural environment and has certainly strained the cultural carrying capacity, the patience of the human population.
Just for reference, U.S. Forest Service Scientists at the Northern Research Station in
Irvine, Pennsylvania have been studying deer impact on forests since the 1940’s. As
a general rule, they found that deer population levels at or below twenty per square
mile allow undergrowth to recover. Port Townsend has a deer density far above that.
Doing nothing is the default. Those of us that drive, garden, and live in Port Townsend can tell you how well that is working. The end result will be all edibles in Uptown gnawed down to bare dirt and up to dead twigs about six feet off the ground, likely to be follow by starvation or disease of the herd. Nobody wants to see that happen.
Capture and release has proven to be ineffective with a high incidence of injury and death to the animals due to the stress of the experience. Sterilization is expensive, short-term results negligible, long-term results hard to quantify, and ineffective unless the herd is contained. Since 2012, Cayuga Heights, New York has spent close to $200,000 to remove the ovaries from 150 does. The animals are captured, one at time, surgically sterilized, and released. City leaders expect only a ten to fifteen percent decline in deer population.
Not far from Port Townsend, authorities in Oak Bay, a suburb of Victoria B.C., have settled on birth control. Deer are captured. Drugs are administered. A booster is required several weeks later so the deer must found a second time and shot with a dart containing additional drugs. Treatments are done on an annual basis. This is happening as we speak so results are yet to be determined. Solid data is probably several years out.
Culling the herd to a manageable level has been used in many locations on the East
Coast. It is the only option that has been proven to be immediately effective, affordable, and can feed the community. Professional hunters are brought in, private contractors or employees with the State Department of Fish and Game. The work is done quietly, and at night. Organic, free range, protein in the form of venison, can be provided to the local food bank.
“Either a community has leadership that drives the decision [to cull] or the
community flounders. When we finish a project, attitudes are the same as well
— people are always astonished by the benefits [of fewer deer].”
Dr. Anthony DeNicola, co-founder of a private, east coast based, non-profit, wildlife
management company.
At this time Washington State has no program for culling deer within city limits. The semi-official stance of the Washington State Department of Wildlife is that humans are encroaching upon deer territory; therefore we must learn to live with wildlife in our midst. Once this message has been delivered you will be referred to the Preventing Conflicts page on the website of the Washington State Department of Wildlife where you will find helpful suggestions such as a recipe for making your own deer repellent, tips for constructing deer fences, and my favorite: “A dog can help keep deer away especially if it is large and awake”.
Deer-ravaged hedge near my house
So we are left with repellents, prison camp style fences, and big, lively dogs. I like dogs, but that is where it ends for me. I have had hundreds of dollars of landscaping devoured, fences broken, and hedges left with leaves only above the six-foot mark. The trees and shrubs that aren’t eaten, are damaged by bucks scraping their antlers on them. The pleasure of walking in the green grass of summer is long gone, unless you like the squish of deer feces working it’s way between your toes. I am not asking for anyone to cry a river for me. I am asking for a deer population that is appropriate for the carrying capacity of my neighborhood, like it was when I moved here twenty years ago, before there was a game trail through my front yard.
The city has made a good start with the no-feeding ordinance, but it is just a start.
[Editor’s Note: Welcome new contributor Brett Nunn, a long-time Port Townsend resident, father and published author. He wants to write to about things that really work in our wonderful community, while other contributors shine a light on some things needing a critical eye. “What Really Works” could be an endless series as there is so much good in this wonderful place of wonderful people. Here is his take on a gem in Port Townsend. If you have your own story to share, please let us know at ptfreepress.org]
When identifying what really works in Jefferson County, I take notice of entities that aren’t beholden to a bureaucracy, move forward with their mission in a determined manner, and, ideally, help our citizens to solve their own problems.
That brings me around to the first fine day last spring when I dragged my bike out of the garage. My eleven-year old daughter wanted to ride out to North Beach, and I was more than happy to join her. Halfway down the block, I remembered that all was not well when I had put the bike away several months before. The shifters weren’t shifting. The brakes were less than ideal. If I wanted to use the lower chain ring, I had to use my right foot as a derailleur. We finished the ride. I spent more than a few days complaining about my bike problems, wondering how they could be fixed, and who would do the work.
I had some familiarity with a place called the Recyclery. It is a couple of blocks from my house, adjacent to the former Mountain View School. A few years previous, my oldest daughter had been a member of the middle school mountain bike team sponsored by the shop. On the next sunny afternoon, I rode my bike over to see if they could help.
Begun in 2007 by Chauncy Tudhope-Locklear and Todd Temres as a twice-a-month bike repair clinic adjacent to the Boiler Room on Washington Street, the Recyclery has evolved into a non-profit with three employees. In 2012 the Recyclery arrived, by bike, at its current location, 1925 Blaine Street. Embraced by the community from the start, hundreds of volunteers have helped build the operation to what it is today, with a roster of thirty-five active volunteers donating their time and energy on a regular basis.
When I arrived at the shop and asked their advice, one of the on-duty mechanics came from behind the counter, hung my bike on a stand, locked it into place, and listened to my tale of woe. He pointed out a couple of broken spokes on the rear wheel that I had missed. Fishing through the used parts—my bike is almost of legal drinking age—he came up with a matching rear rim without broken spokes. He then told me how to lube the shifters, and revive the brakes, and left me alone to make things better.
It helps if you like to wrench on things, and I do, but that is not a requirement. Everybody is in the same boat at this business, and the camaraderie is the best selling point. The open-air venue is always humming. It’s rare to find a workstation unoccupied. I quickly observed that it is an all ages, all genders, all levels of experience, gathering place that welcomes unskilled laborers like myself, as well as the old school cycling connoisseurs who love nothing better than to lose themselves in nostalgia over the latest vintage bike donation freshly unloaded from the back of someone’s car.
Trigger Warning: I got my hands dirty. I also did the repairs by myself. They didn’t hold my hand, but the unflappable staff got me back on track when I was unsure of the next step. I learned that maintaining a bike is not nearly as difficult as imagined, especially with the tools available here. After an hour or so of effort, plus the used rear wheel, new brake pads, new chain, and an individual membership, the total came to about $70. I rode away, the gears shifting smooth as silk, and my brakes doing their job again, amazed that my old bike could be brought back to life so easily.
This place offers community building at its best. And it works. Tools are available even after hours. My favorite benefit, of the many they offer, if a local kid volunteers enough time at the shop, they can build their own bike, at little or no cost, from the treasure trove of used parts stashed away about the place. On top of all that, the Recyclery is turning what would usually become trash, forgotten and ill-used bikes, into treasures for those of us that need to fix our rides at a reasonable price or buy a new/used one.
They aren’t beholden to a bureaucracy. They are moving forward with their mission, “Promoting Bicycling Use For A Healthier And More Sustainable Community”. They are open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 12 to 5 p.m. in the winter, 12 to 6 p.m. in the summer. Most importantly, with their expert advice and the right tools for the job, they gave me the satisfaction of solving my own problems at an affordable price.
