EAST LANSING, Mich. — East Lansing community members are advised that the deer removal operations scheduled to take place this winter in several of East Lansing’s parks have been completed.
With the completion of these operations, there will no longer be closures in East Lansing’s parks on intermittent weekday nights for the remainder of the winter.
Over the course of two nights over the past two weeks, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services biologists highly trained in the use of firearms removed a total of 65 deer from East Lansing’s parks under a cooperative service agreement with the City of East Lansing and a permit from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). While the initial MDNR permit was for up to 50 deer, the permit was revised for up to 70 deer based on the level of deer activity in the parks on the first night of the removal operations. These removal operations were conducted to address deer overpopulation in the East Lansing community, which has resulted in a growing number of deer-human conflicts, including a current average of more than 40 deer-vehicle accidents per year.
The deer removed from East Lansing’s parks will yield approximately 2,000 pounds of venison, which is being donated to the Greater Lansing Food Bank for families in need. During these difficult times, the City is pleased to be able to offer this relief to local families. The processing of the venison has been generously donated by nonprofit Michigan Sportsman Against Hunger: https://www.sportsmenagainsthunger.org/.
Just as the decision to remove the deer this winter took many years of community input, research and thoughtful consideration, post removal input will be collected and considered. The City intends to measure the outcomes of this removal by surveying residents and continuing to monitor deer herds and deer-vehicle accidents so that future decisions can be made.
For additional information about the deer removal operations, community members can view the City of East Lansing’s Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.cityofeastlansing.com/FAQ.aspx?TID=61. Community members can also visit https://www.cityofeastlansing.com/231/Deer-Management for additional information about the City of East Lansing’s deer management efforts to date.