ISLAND PACKET (Hilton Head Island, S Carolina) 14 April 05 Gator policy works, officials say (Jessica Flathmann)
Bluffton: Wildlife officials say a move to shift responsibility for dealing with some nuisance alligators from the state to private communities seems to be working.
Dean Harrigal, a state Department of Natural Resources' wildlife biologist, said the state has issued permits for 15 communities in southern Beaufort County to kill as many as 75 nuisance alligators this year.
"They're going to take care of their own problems," Harrigal said Wednesday during the DNR's Law Enforcement Committee meeting at the Waddell Mariculture Center in greater Bluffton. "Let's let them help us deal with the problems."
But some community officials say the program places the burden on the communities without providing any additional way to pay for removing the alligators.
The state had paid about $100 each for alligator removal, officials have said, and cost about $20,000 a year. The state expects to save up to 75 percent of that by letting communities deal with their own nuisance alligators.
Harrigal said about three-quarters of the approximately 200 nuisance alligators killed each year are within gated communities.
Mike Campbell, chairman of the Law Enforcement Committee, said he was glad to see the state stop dealing with many of the nuisance alligator calls. He said the change would allow wildlife officials to focus more time on other issues.
Col. Alvin Taylor said the state still would deal with emergency calls, such as an alligator in a roadway.
"In a case where there's an emergency, we're going to respond," he said. "The only time we'll be involved in the removal of an alligator is when it's an emergency."
In past years, the state would approve a contractor, such as Critter Management, to remove each nuisance alligator.
Under the new system, the community can catch and kill the alligator without involving the state during the incident. State officials are issuing communities permits to kill a specific number of alligators. The permits are allocated based on the number of alligators typically killed each year in the community.
Peter Kristian, Hilton Head Plantation general manager, said he has had staffers trained to deal with the animals and the community has hired Critter Management to handle the gators that must be removed from the property. But he isn't sure if the program will work.
The change's impacts, such as community response and budget implications, likely won't be known until the policy has been in place for a year, Kristian said. Hilton Head Plantation has permits to kill 10 alligators.
Residents in areas without the resources to remove the alligators still can call state wildlife officials.
Joe Maffo, owner of Critter Management, said he has contracted with about a half-dozen southern Beaufort County communities to take care of nuisance alligators since the state made the change earlier this year.
"It's working out pretty well," Maffo said.
He has been called to determine if a gator is a nuisance a few times this year, but he hasn't had to remove any nuisance alligators under the new contracts with the communities.
He said he's concerned that without the state involved, people who aren't trained to deal with alligators might get hurt trying to capture a nuisance alligator.
Gator policy works, officials say