Sharpshooters have culled more than 200 white-tailed deer from the national park surrounding the Camp David presidential retreat near Thurmont, according to the National Park Service.
The park's resources management chief said Tuesday that the removal of 233 deer since Feb. 1 marked the end of the first round of herd-reduction efforts at Catoctin Mountain Park.
The management plan projects the removal of more than 2,000 deer over 15 years.
The operation is aimed at reducing an outsized herd that has devoured so many saplings and low-hanging tree branches that the health of both the forest and the deer have suffered, park officials said.
Hunting is banned in the park, so the agency used sharpshooters and donated the meat to food banks.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
