Farmington Hills council adopts deer-management plan using USDA sharpshoots, pilot archery hunts

Farmington Hills City Council voted 6–1 on April 28 to adopt a deer-management resolution that authorizes use of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sharpshooters as early as 2026 and a pilot archery program using trained public-safety personnel in 2027.

The plan, presented by Brian Farmer, deputy director of the Department of Special Services, and wildlife biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), is pitched as a regional, science-based effort to reduce what staff described as growing deer-related damage to the city’s natural areas, landscaping and an increase in deer–vehicle collisions. The implementation package includes annual reporting to council, a monitoring partnership with the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, and agreements with the USDA and DNR for the technical work.

The council heard that the city and a Southeast Michigan coalition studied nonlethal options for years. Chad Fedua, identified in the presentation as a statewide deer specialist with the Michigan DNR, told council that the agency does not recommend translocation or sterilization as effective, long-term fixes for wild deer herds. Kara Colton, DNR wildlife biologist for Oakland and neighboring counties, described the DNR’s role as adviser and said the agency has assisted other Michigan communities with permitted sharpshooting and regulated urban archery programs.

Farmer told council the city has logged resident complaints, documented damage to native plants in Woodland Hills and Heritage parks, and tracked an increase in carcass pick-ups and vehicle collisions. “Whatever council decides is the council’s decision,” Farmer said, adding that staff had tried education and other measures for years and would support the council’s direction.

Public commenters were divided. Some residents called the plan humane and necessary to protect road safety and public-park ecology. “We have 12 to 20 deer in my yard at one time; a 30% reduction still preserves deer while easing damage,” said Council attendee Karen Phillips, a landscape designer who said she has had large trees and shrubs destroyed. Others urged continued nonlethal methods, questioned the DNR’s recommendations, and cited studies they said show culling does not reliably reduce populations. Resident Dalton Brosnan said: “Populations rebound — you kill 50 deer this year, you’ll have 70 next.”

City staff said the proposed approach is phased: USDA sharpshooting (nighttime operations using thermal imaging and suppressed guns, with venison donated to food banks) would be an initial tool in 2026; a limited pilot archery hunt would be run by certified and trained public-safety officers in 2027 to test an operational model for local archery. Staff also proposed temporarily suspending conflicting city ordinances as-needed to permit the pilot hunts on consenting private parcels and to allow permitted, restricted activity in specific public areas. The plan calls for outreach, annual reporting to council and archives of harvest and monitoring data.

Supporters pointed to a 7–county survey and local park vegetation assessments that staff and regional partners said demonstrated impacts from heavy deer browsing. Opponents and several residents urged more investment in education, road-signing, deer-proof plantings, enforcement of the city’s do-not-feed ordinance and exploration of fertility-control options.

Councilmember [name not specified in transcript] moved adoption with an amendment limiting pilot archery participation to trained public-safety personnel; the motion passed 6–1. Staff said the city will begin contract and permitting steps with the USDA and DNR, and University of Michigan monitoring plots and resident outreach will follow. Council members noted neighboring jurisdictions planned near-term votes under the same regional framework, with Farmington set to consider a similar resolution on May 5 and Southfield on May 8.

The resolution requires annual reporting to council and a regional approach to avoid simple “displacement” of deer among neighboring cities. Staff said they expect to return with details on parcels, harvest goals and the reporting metrics after agreements are finalized.