Valley Forge Historical Park plans to thin out large deer population
There are just too many deer in Valley Forge National Historic Park, according to Kristina Heister, the park’s natural resource manager. While that may not bother some visitors, the park’s squirrels, chipmunks and songbirds are probably not happy about it.
The National Park Service approved the Record of Decision for the Final White-tailed Deer Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement at the park Oct. 1. The verdict? A combination of lethal and nonlethal measures will be taken to thin the herd; which Heister said will promote the greater good of the park.
Surprisingly, deer first started appearing in the park only in the 1930s. Heister said that she added a quote from one of the park’s past superintendents in the management plan that said he was excited the deer were, “making an extended stay in the park.”
And the deer population was fine until the mid-1980s, when there were between 165 and 185 deer living in the park. Heister said the vegetative community was described as “excellent” in terms of health, meaning there was vegetation as well as regeneration.
Heister started working for the park in 1992, and that’s when she said she started noticing a “browse line,” a dark spot of vegetation from about 6-feet high down. The deer were removing the understory — low trees and shrubs.
“Deer are traditionally considered to eat woody vegetation, but that is not true, especially in suburban areas,” Heister said. “They spend about 50 percent of their time in the park meadows, and 50 percent in the forest. They’re considered grazers — but they eat pretty much everything.”
The browse line prompted the park to establish some long-term monitoring measures. Between 1993 and 2003, Heister said she and park officials were able to document significant losses of the abundance and the diversity of plants in the park.
“Pretty much everything has taken a serious hit,” Heister said. “Once you remove your native forest understory, all the animals that live in and depend on that layer of the forest start to decline. And that ranges from insects to forest songbirds, to direct competition between squirrels and chipmunks for acorns. It’s simply gone, really. There are just no shrubs left.”
Right now, the deer population is 241 per square mile. Heister said ultimately, she’d like to see it at 31 to 35 deer per square mile, bringing it to the levels in the 80s, and with it, that “excellent” vegetation health. To do this, the record of decision selected alternative “D,” which calls for a combination of lethal and nonlethal measures to thin the deer population. The “lethal” aspect uses elevated sharpshooters, who would be either federal agents or contractors. And nonlethal measures would include chemical fertility control, following the initial wave of sharpshooting. The cost for the sharpshooting is estimated to be between $112,000 and $175,000 annually; the fertility control is estimated to cost between $108,000 and $194,000 for the year.
Heister said there’s no exact date set for the sharpshooting, and the logistics haven’t been worked out yet, but she expects action to be taken between November and March.
For more information on the park and the deer management plan, visit www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm.
The National Park Service approved the Record of Decision for the Final White-tailed Deer Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement at the park Oct. 1. The verdict? A combination of lethal and nonlethal measures will be taken to thin the herd; which Heister said will promote the greater good of the park.
Surprisingly, deer first started appearing in the park only in the 1930s. Heister said that she added a quote from one of the park’s past superintendents in the management plan that said he was excited the deer were, “making an extended stay in the park.”
And the deer population was fine until the mid-1980s, when there were between 165 and 185 deer living in the park. Heister said the vegetative community was described as “excellent” in terms of health, meaning there was vegetation as well as regeneration.
Heister started working for the park in 1992, and that’s when she said she started noticing a “browse line,” a dark spot of vegetation from about 6-feet high down. The deer were removing the understory — low trees and shrubs.
“Deer are traditionally considered to eat woody vegetation, but that is not true, especially in suburban areas,” Heister said. “They spend about 50 percent of their time in the park meadows, and 50 percent in the forest. They’re considered grazers — but they eat pretty much everything.”
The browse line prompted the park to establish some long-term monitoring measures. Between 1993 and 2003, Heister said she and park officials were able to document significant losses of the abundance and the diversity of plants in the park.
“Pretty much everything has taken a serious hit,” Heister said. “Once you remove your native forest understory, all the animals that live in and depend on that layer of the forest start to decline. And that ranges from insects to forest songbirds, to direct competition between squirrels and chipmunks for acorns. It’s simply gone, really. There are just no shrubs left.”
Right now, the deer population is 241 per square mile. Heister said ultimately, she’d like to see it at 31 to 35 deer per square mile, bringing it to the levels in the 80s, and with it, that “excellent” vegetation health. To do this, the record of decision selected alternative “D,” which calls for a combination of lethal and nonlethal measures to thin the deer population. The “lethal” aspect uses elevated sharpshooters, who would be either federal agents or contractors. And nonlethal measures would include chemical fertility control, following the initial wave of sharpshooting. The cost for the sharpshooting is estimated to be between $112,000 and $175,000 annually; the fertility control is estimated to cost between $108,000 and $194,000 for the year.
Heister said there’s no exact date set for the sharpshooting, and the logistics haven’t been worked out yet, but she expects action to be taken between November and March.
For more information on the park and the deer management plan, visit www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm.
