Mt. Lebanon’s Controversial Deer-Culling Program Gets Underway

Mt. Lebanon’s controversial deer-culling program began late Monday night with another protest, though all the activity surrounding the cull scared deer away from at least one of the corrals and the rest of the night appeared to pass uneventfully.

About 15 anti-culling protesters gathered starting at 9 p.m. in the parking lot for Bird Park off Beadling Road, hoping to document the arrival of the contractors and their departure with any deer, said Dina Alberts, 27, of Carnegie.

“Our goal is to go to each (commission) meeting with up-to-date information, truthful information, and the only way to get it is to see it with our own eyes,” said Alberts, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon but joined the protesters who feel the culling will be inhumane and ineffective.

The group broke up and headed home by 11 p.m. without seeing any activity, though other protesters who’d visited Robb Hollow Park were approached by police and asked to leave earlier in the evening, said Leila Sleiman, who helped organize the protest at Bird Park.

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Controlled Deer Kill To Be Conducted At Gettysburg Battlefield

Image via Wikipedia

A controlled hunt will be conducted in the next six months by the Park Service staff at Gettysburg Battlefield and the Eisenhower National Historic Site to thin the deer herd by about 150 animals.  The population spiked recently to 80 animals per square mile.  The goal is 25 animals per square mile.

The hunt will be conducted at night and in areas closed to the public.  The venison will be donated to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in Harrisburg.  A portion of that will return to Adams County.  Last year 17,000 pounds of venison was donated to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

An overabundance in the deer population can prevent forest regeneration and stress the ecosystem.  They cause damage to private property, farms, fields and can interfere with overall park management.