ADVOCACY ALERT: Support Effective Deer Management in Arlington County
Please make sure that you complete by July 15 Arlington County’s survey on White-tailed Deer management and sign up to attend the virtual public meeting on July 11. We urge you to support the scientifically valid recommendation to cull the overpopulation of deer in the County’s parks and natural areas. The County commissioned studies that tallied the White-tailed Deer population and assessed the severity of deer browse in natural areas of Arlington’s parks. The studies confirmed that the level of deer browsing in most natural areas is high enough to prevent forest regeneration. The resulting recommendation is to employ professional sharpshooters to reduce the population. ASNV supports this recommendation because it is the safest, most efficient, and most humane method available to address the problem. We endorse the study’s recommendation for the following reasons:
• The alternative, surgical neutering, is very costly and has only a delayed impact. The current level of damage requires faster results. Also, capturing the deer for neutering can result in injuries and is highly stressful to the animals.
• Professional sharpshooting is quick and humane and is the only lethal control measure that is safe enough to be used in Arlington’s parks, which are close by residences.
• Continuing to allow overpopulation of White-tailed Deer and the damage they do to vegetation harms the other wildlife (insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and other mammals) by removing their food source and safe foraging, breeding and nesting areas.
• Browsing deer favor native tree saplings and berry-producing native shrubs, so over-browsing contributes to runaway overgrowth of non-native invasive plants, which do not support native wildlife.
• The recommendation to rely on professional sharpshooting is based on sound scientific assessments of the conditions in Arlington County.
• In employing lethal control of the deer overpopulation, Arlington County would be joining its neighbors in Fairfax and Montgomery Counties and the District of Columbia in taking responsible steps to protect native flora and fauna endangered by deer over-browsing.
Here’s a link to ASNV’s letter to the County on the recommendation. Again, please review the brief video overview on the County’s website, complete the survey, and voice support for the recommendation at the July 11 virtual public meeting. We also encourage you to send a note to members of the Arlington County Board ([email protected]) letting them know you support the report’s recommendations. You also may want to attend one or more Open Door Mondays, which also give you a chance to voice your views directly to board members.
Thank you for your consideration,
Audubon Society of Northern Virginia
