- By Richard A. Durst
- Opinions
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Dear Dan,I just learned that the Seneca White Deer Inc. tours of the former Seneca Army Depot in Romulus will discontinue its tours at the end of 2019. This is very disappointing news since the white deer herd at the former depot is the largest in the world, and I worry as to the future of these magnificent animals. Before moving to Lansing in 2000, I lived very close to the depot and enjoyed viewing the deer as I traveled along route 96A to the Cornell campus in Geneva.
To those of you unfamiliar with the Seneca Army Depot, I recommend reading about this unique facility in our nearby backyard. Briefly, it was started as a WWII munitions storage facility that included radioactive materials used in the Manhatten Project that led to the first atomic bomb and later nuclear weapons in the infamous "Q area". (As an aside, my house was located not far from the end of the runway associated with the depot. I could always tell, well ahead of news reports, when there was some active military operation somewhere in the world because convoys of huge transport jets would take off from this airstrip. Of course, the idea of these airplanes carrying nuclear weapons over my house was not very comforting.)
Returning to the white deer, the tours have been running for a bit over two years but have finally had to shut down because of financial problems. While they were successful in terms of interest and visitor participation, expenses have outstipped revenue, and it was decided to discontinue the tours (apparently, raising prices was not an option). While this is, of course, unfortunate, the bigger question now is what will happen to the deer? Will they continue to be protected? Who will maintain the 24 miles of chain-link fencing that encloses the property? Although I no longer live in the area. I still have a deep fondness for the Finger Lakes area and its future. I am concerned that this unique natural resource is endangered and hope that some solution is forthcoming.
Best regards,
Richard A. Durst
Koefering, Germany
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