The mention of Bambi or Smokey the Bear automatically triggers the memories residing somewhere deep in childhood. The recent debate about deer management in Arlington has aroused some mixed emotions about the best method to cut back the deer population or whether it is needed at all.

The virtual community meeting on July 11 asked participants to submit one word reflecting their thoughts on deer management. The answers ranged from several expressing urgent and essential to overdue, act, horrible and unjustified. 

Several questions focused on safety of professional sharpshooting as well as specific inquiries about which locations would be targeted and how many deer would be shot and why was it necessary given that 158 deer had been removed. The answer was that the initial reduction would be 100-125 deer to be adjusted over time; it only takes 25 does to reproduce enough fawns to replace those deer removed and even increase the population. The ballpark benchmark goal is 15-20 deer per square mile. Other questions were directed at the impact of community input on the final recommendation and county priorities concerning natural resources overall.

Arlington has experienced an increase in deer population as evidenced by a decrease in plant life and animals in some of the parks where hungry deer have eaten their way through the understory. Deer have no predators. Residents increasingly see a doe, maybe with a fawn, meanderingly without caution through their backyard or the remains of chewed off stalks of hostas in their flower gardens.

White-tailed deer are native to Arlington but can harm the environment if they eat plants faster than the plants can grow back. This leads to a cascade of loss as plants disappear, you lose the animals, then the birds, and then small mammals like foxes. As a result Arlington initiated a Deer Management Project in 2021 which included R&D, drone surveys to identify location and number of deer and a comprehensive review of the ecological impact on the plant and animal life as well as the impact of overpopulation on the deer themselves. 

The purpose of the project is to investigate the need for active deer management in County-owned natural land parks, delineate potential management strategies to mitigate negative ecological impacts, sustain a healthy deer population and protect forest habitat for fauna and flora and finally to monitor the program to assess effectiveness.

In the summer of 2022 Arlington County hired a well-known wildlife management and research organization with regional experience to collect data and analyze deer impact on county-owned natural parks. In the spring and summer of 2023 Arlington County published the browse assessment and held community meetings, an online feedback form and held several small deep dive conversations. 

The online feedback form from June 15-July 18 asked the participant to describe the level of concern about the impact of over browsing on deer health and the Arlington ecosystem using a scale ranging from 1-5 for most concern. Forty-seven percent expressed concern at the 4-5 level while 20 percent expressed no concern. Fifty-five percent were supportive of deer management strategies and 35 percent unsupportive.

Reaction to the potential strategies was 43 percent supportive and 51 percent unsupportive of the professional sharpshooter proposal. Sixty-three percent were supportive of the surgical sterilization option with 24 percent unsupportive. Thirty-four percent supported public archery with 60 percent unsupportive. The fencing option received 31 percent support with 56 percent unsupportive.

In the winter of 2023 two informational sessions were held by the project team. Draft recommendations were presented to the County Board on June 18, 2024 followed by a virtual educational community meeting attended by 70 on July 11. These draft recommendations for deer management have been released and are now available for public review and input on the County website until July 19. Videos and research evaluations are also available for review.

The County reviewed five options for deer management including professional sharpshooters to cull the herd, surgical sterilization, fencing small areas, public archery, and deer repellent. Studies indicated professional sharpshooting is the most effective and least costly at an estimated $500-$800 per deer in 2026 compared to more than $1,185 per deer with sterilization.

The draft recommendation is to employ professional sharpshooters in the winter months at night with sound suppression. In addition the recommendations include fencing small areas of priority plant species and continued monitoring of deer population using drones. In addition, the recommendations also include a review of deer collision data as well as monitoring tick-borne diseases. The final recommendation is expected to be released this summer with the earliest implementation projected for the winter of 2025-26.

This has been a difficult issue for a number of residents who cringe at the idea of killing the deer and who hope for a non-violent alternative. But the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, a well-known and respected conservation group, issued an advocacy alert to its members on July 3 urging support of the recommendation to employ professional sharpshooters to reduce the deer population “because it is the safest, most efficient, and most humane method available to address the problem.

“Professional sharpshooting is quick and humane and is the only lethal control measure that is safe enough to be used in Arlington parks, which are close by residences.”

Their letter points out this recommendation 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 steps to protect the fauna and flora.” It should be noted that these jurisdictions have chosen differing options for deer management.