\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe plan to kill up to 80 deer at Origin Park in Clarksville was paused Monday afternoon after widespread pushback from the community.\u201cI think the way that this has been communicated with everybody is an absolute failure on the employees at Origin Park,\u201d one resident told WLKY.The River Heritage Conservancy, which manages Origin Park, said the “culling” plan came after a number of deer within the park were found to be malnourished.”While population reduction is never a popular decision, even within our own office, it is a necessary course of action to protect the long-term health of the park,” the River Heritage Conservancy said in a statement. “This is not an eradication or hunting effort, but rather a rightsizing of the herd to ensure a healthy deer population and maintain the ecological balance for other native wildlife.”READ THE FULL STATEMENT HEREThe Indiana Department of Natural Resources gave the park authorization to kill the deer using suppressed firearms back in January, but members of the community only learned about it on Sunday.A post on the City of New Albany\u2019s Facebook first alerted residents the operation would be taking place during the overnight hours from Feb. 23-27.The permit authorizes the use of drones, thermal imaging, night vision equipment, and spotlights to kill the deer. Nearby residents say they are concerned for their safety.\u201cWe take that as a council, very important as one of our top priorities,\u201d Clarksville town president Bob McEwen said.McEwen said the town council had no knowledge the deer operation was taking place, but says some in city government did. He called it a breakdown in communication.\u201cIn doing that, we fail our constituents, we fail our neighbors, and that\u2019s not what we intend to do. So we will be addressing these gaps in communication,” McEwen said.The local government has no authority to stop the operation. Meanwhile, residents are still left with questions for the park\u2019s leaders.\u201cWhy weren\u2019t you up front? … I think they know we weren\u2019t going to be happy about this. I think that\u2019s why they weren\u2019t up front about it,” a resident said.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tCLARKSVILLE, Ind. \u2014<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The plan to kill up to 80 deer at Origin Park in Clarksville was paused Monday afternoon after widespread pushback from the community.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the way that this has been communicated with everybody is an absolute failure on the employees at Origin Park,\u201d one resident told WLKY.<\/p>\n The River Heritage Conservancy, which manages Origin Park, said the “culling” plan came after a number of deer within the park were found to be malnourished.<\/p>\n “While population reduction is never a popular decision, even within our own office, it is a necessary course of action to protect the long-term health of the park,” the River Heritage Conservancy said in a statement. “This is not an eradication or hunting effort, but rather a rightsizing of the herd to ensure a healthy deer population and maintain the ecological balance for other native wildlife.”<\/p>\n