Freeholders Spend $52K for Dead Deer Removal in '11

The Board of Morris County Freeholders says it paid more than $52,000 in 2011 to remove deer carcasses from municipal roads throughout the county. That figure includes nearly $5,000 spent to deal with deer killed on Parsippany roads.

Two thousand deer carcasses were removed from county and municipal roads last year, according to Stephen W. Hammond, director of the Morris County Department of Public Works. Of that total, he said 1,153 carcasses were picked up from municipal roads.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation dealt with the cost of deer removal until 2006, when the responsibility was set to shift  to the municipalities. Freeholder Gene Feyl, the board's liaison to the Department of Public Works, said the body decided to implement a shared services program in which it would take on the cost of carcass removal for all 39 Morris County municipalities.

“The freeholders thought at the time that the state was placing an unfair burden on municipalities,” Feyl said. “We still do, which is why the county continues to cover the cost for the towns.”

In 2011, the county covered the removal of 99 deer killed on municipal roads in Parsippany, which cost $4,194.50. The only municipality that lost more deer was Washington Township, which had 130 carcasses picked up from municipal roads. In all, the Board of Freeholders reports spending $52,236.50 for dead deer removal. The total cost to the county for carcass removal on all county and municipal roads was $92,400.

Under the county program, each town is responsible for reporting deer carcasses on local and county roads within its municipality directly to Space Farms Zoo in Sussex, which has a contract with the county to pick up the deer. Space Farms charges $42 per deer, compared with the $54.50 per carcass fee that had been charged by a previous company.  Space Farms Zoo removes dead deer from both county and local roads and uses the venison to feed the zoo’s more than 500 animals.