Lake Darling State Park in southern Washington County is closed to the general public this weekend for a controlled deer hunt.  

Park Manager Nick Young says it’s an effort to reduce overpopulation of the deer herd and help prevent the spread of “chronic wasting” disease among  deer. Young says about 50 registered hunters are participating with the choice of keeping the deer they kill or donating them to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ HUSH (Help Us Stop Hunger) program. Young says up to 100 deer are allotted to be removed from the park this weekend. 

Young says closing the park to the general public this weekend comes at a time when park usage is lower due to colder temps following an active summer due to COVID-19, “We’ve actually been quite busy. A lot of people have used the parks as a great outdoor, social distance area to be. Camping was extremely busy. With this being Iowa state parks’ centennial anniversary, it’s been a landmark year for us in the parks, but it’s also been one of turmoil with COVID, so we’ve just done our best to keep everything moving. We’ve had a lot of people out in the park, a good place to be when you’re not inside.”  

Young says they have felt the effects of the pandemic with several event and lodge reservation cancellations. He says  cabins are still available for rent, which are regularly cleaned and disinfected by park staff.