native plants and taking away habitat for other animals in the 4 square miles that make up the park.

“We feel that the deer in Rock Creek Park are special. Deer are a native species to our region. They belong in Rock Creek National Park,” says Carol Grunewald, a resident who lives near the park and opposes the planned hunt.

Grunewald is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit aimed at getting the Park Service to look at other ways to control the deer population.

“What we hope to accomplish with the lawsuit is to show that the National Park Service ignored the law and its rules for Rock Creek Park in approving this extermination plan for the deer. Once that legal case is cleared, we would like to persuade theSince April, FERN has been closely tracking the spread of Covid-19 at meatpacking plants, food processing facilities, and farms. This dashboard is home to our latest reporting on Covid-19 cases and food system workers, and is updated each weekday.

According to data collected by FERN, as of September 21 at 12pm ET, at least 804 meatpacking and food processing plants (496 meatpacking and 308 food processing) and 106 farms and production facilities have had confirmed cases of Covid-19. At least 59,497 workers (42,606 meatpacking workers, 9,571 food processing workers, and 7,320 farmworkers) have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least 254 workers (203 meatpacking workers, 35 food processing workers, and 16 farmworkers) have died.

The interactive map below shows the location of plants and farms where cases of Covid-19 and/or