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Deer Management Comments

February, 26, 2014 9:01 AM
I fully support programs to manage the deer population in Prince George's County and encourage you to consider implementing a program in the Fort Washington area. I live on Colleen Court and we are being overrun by deer. I can at times count over a dozen deer running through my back yard. They are everywhere. I've come home at night after work and had to wait for them to move away from in from of my garage and out of the driveway so that I can park the car. They are eating all of the landscape and several times my husband has stopped cutting the grass because they will come in to the yard and not move. The deer population is too large for this area. I have been hoping that the County would begin program to reduce the population. You have my full support.
 
February, 25, 2014 12:47 PM
Dear Park Management Officials,

I welcome this sorely needed initiative and hope that our neighborhood (Patuxent River Park/Jug Bay area)is included in this program.

I liver on a farm on Duvall Road, in Croom, across from County fields and the Patuxent River Park. In the past few years,there has been a dramatic increase in the number of deer who roam and graze not only in my pastures but also in my front and back lawn, all the way to the porch! They are a huge nuisance and the cause of costly damages. Gone is the bottom part of previously beautiful evergreens lining my driveway, gone are tulips and other flowers, there is no question of a vegetable garden, my hedges are decimated, the lawn is defecated and marked with their hoofs, and on and on and on. It is good for them to have safe haven in the County fields and the Patuxent River Park across the road from us, but those areas obviously can no longer support them. It is time to act.

I do hope you will put your program in practice soon and include our neighborhood in it.


Thank you!
 
February, 25, 2014 12:04 PM
Please consider eliminating some of the deer population in the Fort Washington area. Fort Washington National Park and neighboring communities, (Tantallon, Battersea) are overrun by deer.
There have been multiple deer/vehicle collisions on area roads. Deer are also instrumental in introducing ticks that carry Lyme disease, and the disgusting waste that they drop on our yards is intolerable.
 
February, 25, 2014 12:04 PM
Actually my subject line really says it all. Deer over population has become a state-wide problem and seems to be particularly bad here in the Washington metro area.
 
February, 25, 2014 12:03 PM
Hello,


I'd like to register my support for the sharp shooting programs you recently announced. I'd also like to request that you expand to Piscataway Park in future.
 
February, 25, 2014 12:03 PM
Please control the deer population in accokeek, Maryland!

Thanks
 
February, 25, 2014 12:02 PM
I heartily support all attempts of Prince George's County to reduce deer
populations.

One hundred and thirty residents in the Moyaone Reserve, adjacent to the
Piscataway Park, have safely and successfully operated a managed deer
hunt from 2007 to the present, covering approximately 650 acres. We have
used the Howard County guidelines modified for multiple properties.

Despite a sometimes vociferous 5% anti-managed hunt contingent that
engages in semi-illegal tactics to interrupt the hunt, we have managed
to reduce the deer population from 174 per square mile to approximately
60 per square mile pre-hunt (census numbers from the adjacent Piscataway
Park, provided by the National Park Service). So in fact, we've been
able to reduce the overwintering population to about 30 per square mile.

Not all residents in the community participate in the managed hunt, for
a variety of reasons. Many of those who don't participate appreciate the
results.

I look forward to the day that the county has enough resources to
replace our community's labor-intensive efforts.

 
February, 25, 2014 12:02 PM
Prince George’s County Park Management:




I am opposed to the deer management plan recently published that calls for lethal measures under the auspices of “deer population control.”




In this case, the county has adopted a knee-jerk, short-sighted plan that is a direct result of current land management policies and absolutley counters their mission as stewards of our environmental resources.




Instead of defaulting to this short-term solution for wildlife management, I would recommend a long-term plan that would include, among other things, the following policies:



•Protect and expand current wildlife corridors throughout the county. More areas of protected movement reduces human-deer contacts.
•Protect wetlands within the county against development, encroachment and pollutants. Among other crucial benefits to the environment, wetlands provide refuge and sustenance for wildlife and may keep them from traveling outside their territories for basic needs.
•No longer allow developers to clear-cut, prematurely in most cases, and completely in some cases, forested lands. Again, forested land provides basic needs for wildlife without having them over-extend their territories.
•Discontinue the removal/rezoning of lands from rural and agricultural tiers to developing tiers which increases human density in areas currently providing shelter, water and territory for wildlife.
•Recognize that policies that protect wildlife and their habitats protect our human population as well by preserving our water resources, providing a counter to climate change, and offering critical quality-of-life benefits that only natural areas can provide.

County council members and park management should reflect on who they are supposed to be representing and protecting, the developers and others who see only profit in our land and other finite resources, or the constituents who have elected them and placed some measure of trust in their determination to do what’s right now, and for the benefit of the future generations of Prince George’s county citizens.
 
February, 25, 2014 12:02 PM
Hello,


I enthusiastically endorse deer management in the county! Last year, deer ate over $200 of plants in my yard, and have been a large nuisance in our area. As I talk to neighbors, they discourage me from beautifying my yard because "it will all get eaten by deer, anyway." I'm not in a rural area, I live inside the beltway.

I agree thoroughly with all the policies and information presented on the Deer Management webpage. I feel that this is a wise use of taxpayer money, and I appreciate your practical approach to this problem. I appreciate the problem being addressed. Thank you, thank you. I know many people do not like the idea of shooting deer, but as you say, they have no predators, and that's not healthy.
 
February, 21, 2014 1:12 PM
Hello,
I would like to provide full authorization for any Park Police officers to remove deer from my property. My property is an “edge” habitat adjacent to the forested and unoccupied property of the historic Upper Notley Hall. Notley Hall is a manor house on several acres located between the River Bend (Rosier and River Bend Road) and River Bend Estates (Potomac Valley Drive and Bella Vista Terrace) neighborhoods. The forested area harbors an unsustainable number of deer that only survive by inundating the neighborhoods all day and night. I have counted 12 deer on my ½ acre lot on innumerable occasions. There are deer feces all over the yard, and they have decimated my landscape plants and carved hoof trails into my lawns. I am very concerned about vehicle collisions and Lyme disease. The deer are emboldened and frequently will stand their ground even when I run towards them making noise. I have tried all the sprays and powders and even deer netting on individual plants. My last option is to install unsightly 8 foot fencing around my entire yard which will ruin the visual integrity of our neighborhood. I even saw a young deer last month hobbling around my yard with an arrow sticking out of it’s flank! I believe some residents are employing their own drastic tactics! Please help reduce this unnatural population size in a safe and efficient manner.