The National Park Service tentatively approved a plan Friday that envisions government sharpshooters killing more than 2,800 white-tailed deer at three Civil War battlefields in Maryland and Virginia over the next five years to curb damage to plants and trees.

The agency aims to reduce herds that it claims are over-browsing vegetation at the Antietam and Monocacy battlefields in Maryland, and the Manassas battlefield in Virginia.

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Friday, August 1, 2014 5:42 pm.

Updated: 6:26 pm.