Senator Mayer's Coyote Management Bill Passes State Senate

Westchester Senator Shelley Mayer’s bill to require the State Department of Environmental Conservation to provide guidelines and best practices on coyote management techniques is approved by the State Senate

On Wednesday, March 27, S.2100, passed the State Senate by a vote of 49 to 13. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Shelley Mayer (D-Westchester), addresses the increasing presence of coyotes in urban and suburban communities and the need for a multifaceted response by the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). An increasing number of coyotes in the state’s downstate, highly populated cities, towns, and villages, has posed new challenges for residents, as well as law enforcement. S.2100 requires the DEC to proactively prepare a report on coyote management best practices and other effective methods of preparing residents for managing the coyote influx.

State Senator Shelley Mayer said, “My own experience in my district in Yonkers points to the need for a highly sophisticated response to address understandable concerns of suburban homeowners. I look forward to working with the DEC to fund effective tools for coyote management statewide.”

President of the Hyatt Community Association of Southeast Yonkers, Larry Wilson, said, “Senator Shelley Mayer and her Senate colleagues understand the need for answers and strategies to deal with the proliferation of coyotes in our suburban neighborhoods. We applaud Senator Mayer for sponsoring and supporting this bill.”

The bill requires the DEC to include in the report:

• Management measures currently taken by the department to minimize conflict between humans and coyotes;
• Review of effective management measures being taken in other states;
• Methods to enhance public engagement in and awareness of coyote management issues;
• Identification and evaluation of urban and suburban areas of the state with high concentrations of coyote populations;
• Methods currently implemented to minimize dangerous interactions between humans and coyotes and recommendations for improvements to such methods, if applicable;
• The basis for the department's current coyote population management levels;
• And an evaluation of coyote control methods that may be employed to reduce coyote populations, which may include, but need not be limited to capture and euthanization, capture and removal, and fertility control.

The bill is sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblymember Anthony D’Urso and is under consideration by the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.