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Board backs expanded 2026 deer-management plan; directs contractor to seek 30–35 deer per square mile
Summary
Wildwood’s public-safety board voted Oct. 16 to endorse a 2026 White Buffalo deer-management plan and to authorize the contractor to pursue reducing population density to between 30 and 35 deer per square mile in targeted zones. Staff cited prior surveys, processing/donation pathways and the city’s dedicated deer-management fund.
The Wildwood Board of Public Safety on Oct. 16 voted to send a modified White Buffalo deer-management proposal to the City Council and authorized the contractor to pursue a target population between 30 and 35 deer per square mile in the 2026 operation.
Staff described a plan concentrated on the city’s SE1 region for 2026 with additional maintenance work in NE1 and NE2. Population surveys cited in the presentation show approximately 42.9 deer per square mile in the SE1 area (2025 survey) and higher densities in the NE regions (94 and 64.2 deer per square mile in NE1 and NE2, respectively). The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recommended a target near 20 deer per square mile as a long‑term ecological guideline; the city previously set an operational target of 40 deer per square mile in earlier planning.
White Buffalo’s proposed operations are staffed sharpshooting and removal operations with on-site baiting and pre-site visits; staff said the contractor is paid for time and site work rather than strictly per head. The board discussed liability insurance requests from some property owners (one landowner requested $5,000,000 of additional liability coverage), how carcasses are processed and donated (Share the Harvest and food‑pantry pathways or transfer of carcasses to the Saint Louis Zoo/Red Wolf Sanctuary), and the structure of the city’s deer-management fund (council allocated $1 million in 2023 to seed a multi‑year program).
After questions about processing costs, recruitment rates and how target choices affect the number removed and the processing fee, the board voted to authorize White Buffalo to attempt to achieve a 30–35 deer-per-square-mile target and to forward the modified proposal to the council. Staff said the contractor would perform pre-site visits in December, baiting in January and operations thereafter, and that the board expects updates at subsequent meetings.
The board also discussed outreach: staff reported more than 275 residents had submitted interest forms and that outreach letters had been sent to property owners with parcels above roughly 2.5–3 acres in the target areas to obtain access for baiting/removal sites.
