ARMN’s work in habitat restoration has shown the growing problem of deer population, and started an intensive public education program in 2019. ARMN continues to provide education on deer overpopulation. If you would like an ARMN member to talk with your community group, please contact us.
UPDATE: Arlington County has adopted a program to manage the local deer population starting February 2026. Learn more here.
An issue that’s grown for decades
A generation ago, white-tailed deer were a rare sight in the suburban forests of Northern Virginia. Today, it’s no surprise to spot a few browsing in a neighbor’s garden. Beautiful as they are, the deer we often glimpse on the edges of parks and bike trails these days are a sign of an ecosystem out of balance and in decline.
A single deer eats more than five pounds of shrubs, leaves, nuts, seeds and other vegetation every day. A square mile of healthy forest can support about 15 to 20 deer eating at that clip. Above that, the forest starts to lose its ability to regenerate.
A growing body of evidence indicates that deer populations have crossed that threshold and are endangering the future of forests across the eastern United States, including in the Arlington region.
Especially vulnerable to deer browsing are low-growing native plants that provide food and shelter to insects, birds and other wildlife, leaving “an impoverished environment,” as described by the Virginia Native Plant Society.
Songbirds like the Eastern towhee, wood thrush and brown thrasher can’t build their nests or find food for their young. Small mammals and amphibians can’t hide from predators.
Oak saplings – a deer favorite – don’t survive to replace the current generation of canopy trees. And there’s less plant material on the ground to absorb rainfall, allowing excessive runoff into the Chesapeake watershed.
Lacking predators to keep their numbers in check, deer in these suburban forests are destined to continue growing in population until stopped by famine or disease. In fact, density is believed to be contributing to the spread of fatal chronic wasting disease (CWD) among deer in at least 24 states. CWD was first discovered in wild deer in 1981. It was discovered in Virginia in 2009 and has since spread to 15 counties, including Fairfax as of January 2023. Arlington has been added to one of DWR’s Disease Management Areas as a result. Read more on CWD from Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
A future without forests?
In 2019, researchers for the National Park Service and the University of Maine analyzed seedling data for eastern forests and found a severe deficit of young trees from northern Virginia through Massachusetts. Deer overpopulation, invasive plants, and human land modification were the main causes. Although the impact may not yet be apparent, the diminishment of our forests has already begun.
“A forest can appear viable based on a healthy adult population, while closer examination suggests that the adult population is unlikely to be replaced due to insufficient juveniles (regeneration failure) or different juvenile species composition (regeneration mismatch),” the researchers wrote.
Trees in cages
ARMN members who volunteer to restore natural habitat in our regional public parks have seen firsthand the imbalance caused by too many deer. Our suburban forests are dominated by a few native species that deer don’t find appetizing, like Spicebush and Pawpaws, and lots of harmful exotic invasive plants that deer won’t eat.
Early attempts at habitat restoration were frustrated when overabundant deer devoured the large native plantings. Volunteers have learned to protect native trees and shrubs, typically by surrounding each one with a sturdy deer-proof cage. That approach is not scalable, and who wants to walk through the woods to see a bunch of metal cages in the environment?
Changing times
Deer numbers in Virginia were once so low, state wildlife officials imported them from nearby states to satisfy hunting needs. For decades, through the 1980s, management efforts focused on keeping the deer population strong.
But that approach took a turn in the 1990s in response to an explosive increase in deer, especially in the suburbs, where deer-friendly landscapes and a lack of predators led populations to spike.
“Today, deer management objectives have changed to control and stabilize populations over much of Virginia,” the state Department of Wildlife Resources explains on its website.
Other jurisdictions along the East Coast have experienced a similar evolution in approach to deer populations – from protection to control and management.
After more than a decade of experimentation with deer control methods on the grounds of Cornell University, researchers there compiled a guide for community-based deer management – a four-step process that results in an action plan. Dozens of communities have used the system; many told their stories here.
Restoring balance improves forest health
Parks that actively control their deer populations have seen an increase in forest understory and native tree saplings that point to a more sustainable future.
Read about deer management programs in our region and get information and data on state and national programs and other publications.
