In a continued effort to reduce Fort Meade’s deer population to acceptable levels, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services has scheduled an additional deer cull on the installation set to begin Jan. 22.
The target goal for a herd is approximately 12 to 18 deer per square mile. Fort Meade’s population is currently measured at 37 deer per square mile.
The objective for this year’s cull is 100 deer.
Overpopulation is detrimental to the deer and the installation. According to the Fort Meade Environmental Division, damage to forest regeneration and impacts to landscaping caused by the deer are evident throughout Fort Meade.
In addition, despite slow speeds on post, deer-related vehicle accidents are still an issue on the installation, causing safety concerns.
There were 13 deer-related traffic collisions reported to the Directorate of Emergency Services on Fort Meade in 2014; 14 in 2015; and 14 in 2016.
Fort Meade’s deer population flourished in the enclosed area over several years. Hunting has not been allowed on Fort Meade for more than two decades.
Two USDA marksmen, teamed with a Directorate of Emergency Services representative, will conduct the cull between Jan. 22 and March 31.
The hours of the deer cull will be Monday through Thursday, after dark until approximately 1 a.m.
These times will help ensure the cull will not impact rush hour traffic.
Shooting zones will be directed away from structures, vehicles, equipment and bodies of water and focused on areas defined as having more than one deer.
The USDA Wildlife Services has a record of zero accidents and a 100 percent drop rate.
Like last year, a deer processor will prepare the meat for donation to the Maryland Food Bank. Fort Meade has donated more than 12,900 pounds of venison to the Maryland Food Bank since 2015.
Most of the meat was distributed to veteran-oriented charitable organizations.
Child Development Center 1 welcomes new director
Lois Davis knows her professional priorities.
As the new director of Child Development Center 1 at Fort Meade, Davis is committed to children and her staff.
“I want to make this the best center it can be,” said Davis, who started Jan. 4. “Children are always foremost in my mind. I want to do everything I can to ensure that morale is good and employees are doing what they are supposed to do.”
Prior to coming to Fort Meade, Davis was a curriculum trainer in the Child and Youth Services program at the Naval Support Facility Indian Head, Md., from 2016 to 2017.
Before that, Davis was director of the CDC at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., from 2014 to 2016.
A native of Rockland County, N.Y., Davis is a military spouse. Her husband, retired Petty Officer 1st Class Glenn Davis, served as a Navy aviation electrician for 21 years. He is currently a contractor for DynCorp at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County.
CDC 1 currently enrolls about 246 children, ages 6 weeks to 5-years-old, and is operating at 98 percent capacity. The facility provides full-time day care and is staffed by about 60 people.
Davis began working with children as a substitute elementary school teacher after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in elementary school education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y.
She met her husband in 1982 and married a year later. The couple then moved to Florida.
In 1991, while Davis’ husband was stationed at the Naval Station in Rota, Spain, she began working as a lead program assistant at the base’s CDC. Two years later, Davis was director of the CDC at the Naval Air Facility in Atsugi, Japan until 1997.
Over the next 12 years, Davis held various positions at CDCs in Virginia: Naval Air Station Oceania in Virginia Beach; Naval Station Norfolk; and the Joint Expeditionary Base-Little Creek.
In 2009, Davis served for four years as the director of the CDC and Youth Center at Northwest Annex Naval Support Activity in Chesapeake, Va.
After the Northwest Annex, Davis was a curriculum trainer for the Child and Youth Services Program at Andrews Air Force Base until 2014, then worked at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va.
Davis said she is happy to be at Fort Meade, where she is learning Army regulations for operating the CDC and managing the staff.
“I look forward to working with the community,” Davis said. “I have an open-door policy and I want parents to feel free to see me if they have any concerns.
“The children come first.”
– By Lisa Rhodes
