'Optimal for the Habitat'

There’s been a period of silence from EMP (Eastern Moors Partnership) in recent months. Anyone who has read the book by Heather Brooke “The Silent State” knows that silence is what public bodies are very good at. It was September when they produced their Draft Guiding Management Principles. One of the sentences in that document says “A clear and transparent policy will be created to manage the red deer herd”. Well I’ve learned to be extra suspicious of those who come straight out with professions of clearness and transparency. It usually means they’re working their socks off behind the scenes deciding what they’re going to do and weighing carefully how much they intend to tell the public. I emailed EMP more than a week ago with some questions and as yet there’s been no reply. One of those questions related to their intentions regarding the red deer. A rumour has been circulating that they’ve carried out a census and decided that there are 110 of them which is too many for the area. This rumour related to the National Trust which is one half of EMP. My queries on this have so far drawn a blank.
Deer have existed around here for years without being managed but of course when you get the grand job-title ‘manager’ you’ve got to do some managing or people might think you’re superfluous. The crucial bit in the Management Principles (as quoted by Mark in a recent comment) reads:

6 Appropriate grazing to achieve conservation objectives
…………..
iv. A clear and transparent policy will be created to manage the red deer herd. The herd will be monitored and managed to a carrying capacity and sex ratio which is optimal for the habitat on the Eastern Moors and the health of the herd themselves, also minimising any potential negative impacts on neighbours.

Nobody reading this critically can doubt that the intention is to turn wild animals into managed domestic units of production, different only in appearance to the cattle and sheep on the moors. This will take away the appeal and the romance of these animals which then become tools of habitat management to create a kind of zoological gardens specialising in birds. Instead of what we’ve had in recent years, all will become increasingly predictable. ‘The red deer herd’ says it all – the free spirits wandering at will individually and in various sized groups become a collective unit working for a common management cause. How do you define a ‘carrying capacity’ for God’s sake? When the land around goes on for many a mile most of it in public hands why are you just looking at one segment of it? Deer, when allowed to, wander many miles in a day. There seems an assumption here that they may stand in one place for ages until they've eaten everything around them. Meanwhile EMP are looking for farmers to graze cattle in the same area. Words are inadequate.