The Upper Dublin Township Deer Management Program was established in 2009 and maintains a strong reputation that prioritizes safety, controlled access, expert oversight and a deep respect for both the community and the environment.

The Ambler Campus, at 187-acres, represents a gap that is reducing the programs’ effectiveness in working to mitigate the deer population’s impact on public safety, public health and property damage. 

Having the Ambler Campus and the Ambler Arboretum opt in to this program has the potential for increasing the success and effectiveness of Upper Dublin's ongoing program. 

Why we are comfortable opting into this specific program:

• Proven unblemished track record of safety for 16 years.
• The community residents and our neighbors already live in a township that has a culling program; it is familiar and expected.
  • In fact, community residents around us frequently ask why we do not do anything about our deer problem because they see it as becoming their deer problem as well.
• Unparalleled communication between campus leadership and the township.
  • All community concerns are directed to the Upper Dublin Police Department.
• Extraordinary flexibility to work with the campus and the Arboretum to develop a customized “program within the program” that works for our unique circumstances as a university campus and public botanical garden:
  • Timing of the year, number of weeks, hours of operation, specific assigned hunting locations, limits on number of hunters on campus at any time.
  • TUA staff access to the program application allowing us to track not only how many program participants are on the campus at any given moment but where they are and who they are.
  • The ability to close the property to the program for any reason and at any time.
• Familiarity and experience with operating within open spaces and in spaces open to the general public with many access points and people participating in a wide variety of activities across the landscape.
• The campus will have the same signage used throughout the township, which is familiar to all community residents in the area.
• Thorough vetting and training program for program participants that all participants must pass every year regardless of number of years of participation.
• Transparent, research-based and data-driven program.
• Multiple campus staff have experience with implementing or participating in similar management programs, understanding their benefits and challenges and the scientific justifications for participating in a deer management program.