Save the Rock Creek Park Deer
![]() Rock Creek Park: A Shattered Sanctuary
In 1890, Congress established Rock Creek National Park in Washington, DC to be an oasis of peace from the wear and tear of urban life. Comprising less than five square miles, this small jewel has provided sanctuary to native wildlife for nearly 125 years. At the end of the week, a hike or bike ride through Rock Creek Park was a cleansing antidote to a heavy work schedule and the stress of city living. It was even more magical when it included a chance meeting with a red fox, a pileated woodpecker, a gentle doe or a magnificent buck. A profound sense of gratitude and well-being came from this experience! Never, in the history of this national park, had anyone been permitted to remove animals from the park, let alone kill any of the native wildlife living there. But in 2012, the National Park Service (NPS) published a final decision to kill the deer because they claimed the deer herd adversely effected forest regeneration in the park. A lawsuit filed in the fall of 2012 by five Washington, DC residents and the international organization "In Defense of Animals" argued that the NPS lacked the data it needed to take action and must first deal with the agency's admitted number one problem in the park -- invasive non-native plants choking out native plants -- before resorting to killing native deer in the park. This lawsuit delayed this killing initially, but it took place after a federal judge ruled on March 14, 2013 that NPS had the authority to take measures it deemed necessary. (The court did not rule on the correctness or reasonableness of NPS's conclusion, only that it had the necessary authority.) An appeal was filed in September of 2013. So on the afternoon of March 28, 2013, the Park announced that the notoriously brutal Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services would begin killing as soon as that night and continuing to the end of March. Protesters were out the night of March 28, 2013, bearing witness to the National Park Service's unnecessary killing and continued the protest for the three remaining nights the agency said it would be killing. |
Despite overwhelming public comments against killing any of the estimated 314 deer in the park, despite an offer by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to share half the cost of a multi-year birth control program in the park using a widely accepted and successful vaccine, NPS officials again permitted USDA's notoriously brutal Wildlife Services Division to kill a reported 106 deer between January 3 and March 31, 2014. Again in December of 2014 the Wildlife Services killed an additional 55 deer according to the National Park Service. In January 2015, the appeals court announced a decision in favor of the National Park Service, largely on the basis of the Court's perceived obligation to give “considerable deference to the agency’s expertise and policy-making role.” This policy makes it very difficult to defend wildlife against the faulty science and bias towards lethal methods of the National Park Service and other Agencies. Native deer in Rock Creek Park are twice the victims of park mismanagement. First, when officials do little to protect their habitat and permit invasive vines to overtake the land and upset the park's ecosystem. Second when NPS falsely blames the deer for destroying the habitat it fails to maintain, and then kills the deer. |
The Facts:
*In blaming the deer for problems in the park, NPS contradicts evidence and its own frequently stated opinion that the problem is exotic plants.
*The data NPS used to show that deer are damaging forest regeneration actually show the opposite according to the eminent forest ecologist Dr. Oswald Schmitz of Yale University School of Forestry.
*NPS population density estimates show the deer population has been stable with slight annual variations, for the last 14 years, and not at the level to historically use lethal methods.
*Killing deer generally fails to provide a successful sustained reduction in deer population. Deer, especially previously non-hunted populations, respond to hunting pressure with higher fertility. It's called the "rebound effect." Remaining female deer have increased birthrates that not only replace the deer killed but may increase the overall size of the herd. This is why areas that begin killing deer don't stop, the killing has to be routinely repeated. Some have likened it to cutting grass.
*Reproductive controls can achieve the same result without the violence. There are several reproductive control agents developed for wildlife that are practical, successful, and more sustainable than killing.
*It is widely accepted that reducing deer numbers cannot effectively control the spread of Lyme disease. Black-legged ticks feed on many species of mammals and birds and most often pick up the disease by feeding on infected mice and chipmunks, not deer. For these reasons, even killing all the deer won't stop the disease. Ticks will still pick up the disease from small rodents and be amply fed by the squirrels, foxes, possums, racoons and other mammals that thrive in our area.
*Rock Creek Park has based its rationale for killing deer strictly on the Park ecosystem. It has resisted taking action to reduce vehicle collisions on the grounds that fewer deer would be killed if the collisions were reduced. It clearly states that it has no mandate to protect plants on private property so for residents who complain that deer are eating their tulips or hostas, the Park Service isn't required to do anything.
Get the whole story! Visit our "Issues" pages
TOP PAGES; Our campaign - NPS plans, lawsuit, protests.
Contraceptive vaccines - How we know these work
Deer Population - How NPS distorted data
NEW PAGE! Surgical Sterilization - Field experience to date
*In blaming the deer for problems in the park, NPS contradicts evidence and its own frequently stated opinion that the problem is exotic plants.
*The data NPS used to show that deer are damaging forest regeneration actually show the opposite according to the eminent forest ecologist Dr. Oswald Schmitz of Yale University School of Forestry.
*NPS population density estimates show the deer population has been stable with slight annual variations, for the last 14 years, and not at the level to historically use lethal methods.
*Killing deer generally fails to provide a successful sustained reduction in deer population. Deer, especially previously non-hunted populations, respond to hunting pressure with higher fertility. It's called the "rebound effect." Remaining female deer have increased birthrates that not only replace the deer killed but may increase the overall size of the herd. This is why areas that begin killing deer don't stop, the killing has to be routinely repeated. Some have likened it to cutting grass.
*Reproductive controls can achieve the same result without the violence. There are several reproductive control agents developed for wildlife that are practical, successful, and more sustainable than killing.
*It is widely accepted that reducing deer numbers cannot effectively control the spread of Lyme disease. Black-legged ticks feed on many species of mammals and birds and most often pick up the disease by feeding on infected mice and chipmunks, not deer. For these reasons, even killing all the deer won't stop the disease. Ticks will still pick up the disease from small rodents and be amply fed by the squirrels, foxes, possums, racoons and other mammals that thrive in our area.
*Rock Creek Park has based its rationale for killing deer strictly on the Park ecosystem. It has resisted taking action to reduce vehicle collisions on the grounds that fewer deer would be killed if the collisions were reduced. It clearly states that it has no mandate to protect plants on private property so for residents who complain that deer are eating their tulips or hostas, the Park Service isn't required to do anything.
Get the whole story! Visit our "Issues" pages
TOP PAGES; Our campaign - NPS plans, lawsuit, protests.
Contraceptive vaccines - How we know these work
Deer Population - How NPS distorted data
NEW PAGE! Surgical Sterilization - Field experience to date