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Beachwood officials recommend harvesting 90 deer under proposed 2024 management plan
Summary
Mayor Burns and staff recommended continuing deer management and contracting Precision Wildlife to harvest 90 deer in 2024 (estimated $103,500 per city), citing a resident survey showing 65% support and more than 15 dead-deer pickups as thresholds under ODNR guidance; council will consider the proposal Sept. 16.
Beachwood Mayor Burns and city staff on Tuesday recommended the council continue a deer-management program for 2024 and consider a contract with Precision Wildlife Management to harvest 90 deer at an estimated cost of $103,500 per city.
Communications manager Ben Lombardi told the Committee of the Whole that Beachwood’s resident survey received about 438 responses, with 65% of respondents saying they want fewer deer. “Based on the threshold that was suggested by ODNR, 60%, and we’re clearly above that at 65,” Lombardi said, adding that the city’s dead-deer pickups exceeded the administration’s pickup threshold of 15 last year.
The administration presented a decision matrix that uses two measures — dead-deer pickups and public attitude — to determine whether to conduct a sharpshooting-style cull. Lombardi summarized last year’s effort: the city and its partner harvested about 70 deer, donated roughly 3,000 pounds of venison (which staff estimated could provide about 12,000 meals), and spent about $70,000 of an originally allocated roughly $100,000 budget.
Mayor Burns said the 2024 proposal would increase the harvest to 90 deer and estimated a cost of $103,500 for each participating city, with Shaker Heights contributing and the two cities sharing processing and donation responsibilities. “We recommend accepting the contract from Precision Wildlife, maintain partnerships for Shaker Heights, and engage other cities to take part,” Burns said.
Jim Mariano, president of Precision Wildlife Management, described the company’s eight years of work with Shaker Heights and Beachwood and defended its operational and safety practices. Mariano said his team operates to law-enforcement sharpshooting standards, avoids harvesting fawns, uses cameras and bait sites to plan discreet operations in residential areas, and inspects every carcass before donation. “We don’t take a chance with this,” he said, adding that venison recipients last year included the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank and the Geauga County Veterans Food Bank.
Council members pressed staff and the contractor on alternatives, including sterilization programs operated in neighboring communities. Mariano and staff said Ohio allows sterilization only in connection with specific grants and ODNR oversight, and that sterilization alone has not proven successful at scale because sterilized deer still move among jurisdictions and continue to cause damage and vehicle collisions.
Several council members and Shaker Heights officials emphasized the regional nature of the problem and urged more contiguous municipal participation to reach a maintenance level that would prevent increasing culling needs over time. “We need a regional solution,” one council member said, noting that isolated efforts can displace deer into neighboring jurisdictions.
No formal council action was taken Tuesday. Mayor Burns said the administration plans to place a deer-management contract and related documents on the Sept. 16 Beachwood City Council agenda for formal consideration.
