Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner wants the National Park Service to do something about the large populations of deer in the C&O Canal National Historic Park.
Residents in Potomac — Berliner’s district — who live next to the Gold Mine Tract of the C&O Canal National Historic Park have issued numerous complaints to the council about the hazards of the deer that wander out of the park and into their yards. Some residents have contracted Lyme disease, and the county averages 2,000 vehicle accidents a year that are caused by deer.
The park houses an estimated 128 deer per square mile, Berliner wrote. “In addition to causing concern to local residents, a population this high is surely having a negative impact on the vegetation in the park.”
The C&O Canal park should take the necessary steps — which include studying the deer poulation in the park and the possible impact on the environment of reducing the population — to develop a deer management plan, Berliner said. “A solution needs to be developed now.”
