BOUNTIFUL -- City officials are expected to revisit the revival of a program to thin the population of domestic deer within city limits.
City Manager Tom Hardy said a meeting with state Division of Wildlife Resources officials will be held later this year, once the deer hunt has ended, to discuss how to deal with the city's domestic deer population.
Last year, the city teamed with the state agency to cull the herd using a DWR marksman and one officer from the Bountiful Police Department. They removed deer on the land of local residents who gave the city permission to be on their property for the controlled hunt.
Approximately 16 deer were killed during the two-month effort. Only does and fawns were killed.
Despite that effort, local residents' issues with deer have not changed, said Hardy, who noted that more deer are still killed every year on city roads than by any other method.
Last year, DWR suggested as many as 500 deer live within city limits. Other officials suggested the count is higher.
The issue of how to deal with deer has been one of the most controversial during the past two years for city officials.
Hardy and city officials have maintained the focus of the program is to manage the deer population, not to eliminate it.
Meat from deer killed last year was donated to feed the hungry and homeless through the local chapter of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry.
A city questionnaire sent out in November 2009 asked residents if they wanted to take steps to control the deer population. It then asked about the viability of potential options, including hiring a sharpshooter, using archers, or trapping and relocating the deer.
Hardy said the city received approximately 3,600 responses, with 60 percent of respondents asking the city to leave the deer alone.
That same survey showed people were even less supportive of the idea of letting a marksman access their property in an attempt to curb the deer population.
A subsequent public hearing on the issue in January showed people were split as to how to handle the issue.
Protesters held demonstrations on the steps of City Hall several times last year during the time the deer were being hunted.
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