Ten Ann Arbor parks are open to the public again, following the city's decision to remove them from a list of sites where sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture will shoot deer.
That leaves 14 parks closed to the public from 4 p.m. until 7 a.m. on weekdays until the deer cull ends on March 1.
According to a press release from the City of Ann Arbor, the decision to reopen the parks was "a result of recent operational assessments related to the cull."
The city has not said whether recent efforts from citizens opposed to the shoot influenced the decision.
Robert McGee with Ann Arbor Residents for Non-Lethal Deer Management said he's pleased with the decision, but there's still work to do.
"The sad fact remains, there will be culling. We cannot stop it, [so] we're trying to mitigate our damages as best as possible," McGee said.
McGee said he's meeting with Ann Arbor's interim city manager Friday to discuss the 14 parks still on the cull list.
The parks that have been removed are Arbor Hills Nature Area, Braun Nature Area, Dhu Varren Woods Nature Area, Foxfire South Nature Area, Foxfire West Nature Area, Narrow Gauge Nature Area, Oakridge Nature Area, Oakwoods Nature Area, Onder Nature Area and Traver Creek Nature Area.
