Some legislation at the State Capitol will just leave you holding your nose.
Last week, two bills were debated because motorists are too often holding their noses on Missouri's highways.
The presence of dead deer along Missouri's roads has become an increasingly noticeable and smelly issue, suggested the sponsor of a bill that would require the Missouri Department of Transportation to remove and bury large wildlife found dead on highways, roads, shoulders and right-of-ways.
"They're an eyesore. They are a public nuisance because they are rotting. They stink, they're rotting, they're decaying," said Rep. Kent Haden, R-Mexico, adding that he passed five that morning on his way to Jefferson City. "They have the potential to be a health hazard -- or they are -- and they certainly have the potential of being road hazards."
Under the bill and a similar bill discussed at the hearing, MoDOT would be responsible for removing animals large enough to impede traffic and be required to bury the carcass at least 3 feet deep at a state conservation site. The Missouri Department of Conservation, responsible for managing deer and wildlife in the state, would pay MoDOT for the associated costs at an estimated rate of $305 per head.
MoDOT officials acknowledge there is a roadkill problem on Missouri's highways.
Jay Wunderlich, MoDOT's director of governmental relations, testified the department picks up dead deer as it can, particularly if the carcass presents a health or safety issue. If it's along the road, he said, crews will leave the carcass on the right-of-way to decompose naturally. But, he added, the Conservation Department doesn't want MoDOT to move carcasses too far so it can better manage chronic wasting disease.
For MoDOT, staffing issues is again at the heart of the problem. Frankly, the department has been transparent how the loss of manpower has forced it to prioritize the transportation needs of the state. If the department has found it difficult to fully staff its snowplow fleet, it's little wonder that it's attracted sufficient staffing to clear roadkill from Missouri's roadways.
Wunderlich said MoDOT is down about 300 maintenance workers and 800 incarcerated workers who were used to pick up dead animals and trash along highways. MoDOT still has about 150 incarcerated crews signed up for the work, he said.
Wunderlich said the number of incarcerated crews is down because of prison releases amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Life's all about choices and this is what this is -- a choice," Wunderlich said, adding the department has to choose between clearing dead deer and fixing potholes.
He's right; fixing potholes and maintenance of the roadways must be priorities over removing carcasses from the shoulders of highways. The focus must be on safety over mere nuisance.
But the sponsors are also right in that the department could contract out the work, potentially at a lesser cost than having state crews do it. And Conservation, which is in charge of managing the state's wildlife, should pick up the bill.
Since 2014, MoDOT has tracked a peak of 3,000 deer disposals per year, with disposal costing around $250 per deer. The bill's fiscal note was based on a 4 percent inflationary increase, raising the cost per disposal to $305, applied to 3,000 deer per year.
The idea behind the bill may have the beginnings of a solution, but the real question is why this issue needs to be handled with legislation.
Frankly, it's an issue that should have been tackled together by MoDOT and Conservation.
Rep. Rudy Veit, R-Wardsville, as much as said so at the hearing.
"Both the conservation and the highway departments have some highly skilled employees -- they have accountants, they have lawyers, they even have people with common sense," Veit said. "It seems to me this is a fairly simple problem that they ought to be able to get together and settle between the two of them without us spending time here."
Veit's right.
There's no doubt that seeing and smelling dead deer along the highways is repugnant, but maybe legislators should be devoting more of their time on odious issues that truly affect the health and safety of Missourians.
-- News Tribune