MONTPELIER, Vt. -
The halls and walls of Vermont's Statehouse are filled with portraits, busts, and other decorations, but it's what's no longer on display that has some upset.
A deer head that was mounted in the Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee Room for nearly a decade was taken down last year.
"I came here to testify on a bill and it wasn't there, It's a symbol of what the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Committee is," says Clint Gray, president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen.
Gray says the move was out of bounds. "This particular mount was put here by resolution, joint resolution by the House and the Senate."
Former Committee Chair Robert Helm helped bring the deer to the Statehouse and initially supported its recent move to the Department of Fish and Wildlife by current Chair David Deen, but he now admits he made a mistake, "Anybody with any type of deer hunting history in their blood will say, jeez, we really think that should be off in that committee room," says Helm, R-Rutland.
Rep. Jim McCullough, D-Williston, was behind the push to change the committee room's décor, "What led to it quite honestly was my concern that we needed more balance in our room," he says.
McCullough and other members felt the relatively small committee room needed to more accurately reflect all the committee has on its docket, "The balance that we currently have now has bears, has fish, it has ducks and it also has art," he adds.
The wall where the deer used to be is now home to an image of kids fishing that once filled the cover of Vermont Life Magazine.
"The picture represents Vermont tradition it represents the past and it also represents the future," say Rep. Kate Webb, D-Shelburne. She goes on to argue that folks need to focus on the bigger picture, "There are really big issues that we're facing this year and I would really hope that we would not make decorating a committee room a big issue this year."
Gray says the deer head is more than a decoration "They have to follow what it was put there for, it was put there for eternity and it's supposed to be maintained and clean."
After Tropical Storm Irene the deer head was moved from the Fish and Wildlife offices in Waterbury to the Kehoe Conservation Camp in Castleton.
WCAX reached out to current Fish, Wildlife, and Water Resources Chair, David Deen for comment on the resolution that calls for the deer to stay at the Statehouse, but we had not yet heard back when this story was published.
