FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, December 10, 1997
CONTACT:
Jonathan Lovvorn, 202-588-5206, jrlovvorn@aol.com
Michael Markarian, 301-585-2591, mmarkarian@fund.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, a coalition of wildlife protection groups won the first round in a legal battle to protect deer in National Parks, when the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted their request for a preliminary injunction halting the National Park Service's plan to shoot approximately 500 white-tailed deer in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered "that defendants are enjoined from taking any further steps to implement their deer management program at the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in Ohio until further order of this Court." Civil Action No. 97-2563 (PLF).
The plaintiffs -- The Fund for Animals, Animal Protection Institute, Humane Society of the U.S., Ohioans for Animal Rights, In Defense of Deer, and several Ohio citizens -- argued that the proposed deer kill violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Park Service Act, because the Park Service failed to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and violated their own policies. In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that the Park Service has established a new policy for managing wildlife, which has not been subject to programmatic environmental analysis or public input. This new policy promotes the killing of wildlife rather than wildlife protection.
The Park Service stated that shooting deer was necessary to maintain the biodiversity of native species in the Park, but provided no scientific evidence of how the deer threaten biodiversity and also failed to evaluate the full range of non-lethal alternatives. The Park Service has initiated a study to assess the impacts deer are having on biodiversity, but has prematurely proposed a deer kill before that study is even completed. A group of scientists from Akron University criticized the proposal as scientifically flawed and baseless, and reported their findings last month to a crowd of several hundred Ohio citizens who rallied in protest of the Cuyahoga deer kill.
Says Jonathan Lovvorn, attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, "The Court's order should serve as a wake up call for the National Park Service that there are serious legal problems with their current white-tailed deer management program."
Adds Michael Markarian, director of campaigns for The Fund for Animals, "This is a victory for wildlife and a victory for all citizens who want to take part in the decision-making process. Most people oppose hunting and would rather resolve deer conflicts humanely, safely, and effectively."
