Plan Targeting 2,800 Battlefield Deer Progresses

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The National Park Service tentatively approved a plan Friday that envisions government sharpshooters killing more than 2,800 white-tailed deer at three Civil War battlefields in Maryland and Virginia over the next five years to curb damage to plants and trees.

The agency aims to reduce herds that it says are over-browsing vegetation at the Antietam and Monocacy battlefields in Maryland and the Manassas battlefield in Virginia.
Spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said in a telephone interview that the number of deer to be killed would depend on how quickly the forest regenerates.“What’s laid out in the chart is going to be your maximums,” she said.

The final Environmental Impact Statement is open for public review until Sept. 3. The agency would then record its decision, enabling the battlefields to implement the $1.8 million plan, contingent on funding.
With public hunting prohibited in the parks, the deer population per square mile has reached an estimated 130 at Antietam, 172 at Manassas and 235 at Monocacy, the park service said. That’s at least six times the desired deer density of 15 to 20 per square mile, the agency said.