Debate ensued during a House hearing Thursday morning on whether roadkill is the responsibility of the Missouri Department of Transportation or the Missouri Department of Conservation. Following Missouri’s deer population boom in recent years, residents have become increasingly frustrated by the amount of roadkill and the length of time it takes to clean up. Roadkill removal is currently handled by the Missouri Department of Transportation, but a decrease in funds and employees has made it difficult for the department to keep up. Democratic Representative Paula Brown of Hazelwood is sponsoring a bill that would shift roadkill removal costs and burial sites to the Department of Conservation.

Brown says the roadkill removal bill would need an estimated $900,000 dollars and the Department of Conservation carried over roughly $43 million from their budget last year.

courtesy of Missouri News Network