Deer Management Update: Public Safety Committee

On December 16, 2025, Assistant City Manager provided an updated to the Public Safety Committee. The update summarized the recent studied conducted by Kent County with a focus on the deer management strategies that would best benefit Grand Rapids. These strategies include:

• Increase road right-of-way mowing
• Native landscaping
• Establish & enforce ordinances to ban deer feeding

No decision has been made to conduct any of these strategies within the City of Grand Rapids. Next steps include

• County "roadshow" with local municipalities and townships
• Identify operational/financial commitments and timelines across the region 
• Prioritize and begin execution on recommendations as resources allow

Communication and Engagement Effort

Throughout 2025, Kent County has been conducting multiple deer population surveys around the county. In addition, county staff, in participation with the DNR, have been hosting community open houses to provide updates on what they have seen so far and where they are headed. You can view their most recent presentation here and overall project timeline here. Their goal is to finalize their findings and present recommendations Fall 2025.

These recommendations will inform any potential City of Grand Rapids urban archery hunting decisions for the Fall 2025 season. As options are considered, we will focus by ward as well as on intentional interaction with impacted property owners.

Decision: Public Safety Committee

On December 17, Public Services presented to the Public Safety Committee explaining that the City of Grand Rapids will not go forward with a January 2025 pilot for 960 Bristol Ave NW.

After engaging with impacted property owners and further research, there was a determination that more engagement needed to be conducted as well as development of processes. 

Update: Committee of the Whole

On December 3, 2024 Public Services presented a report regarding the proposed pilot program including the the feedback gained from the December 2nd meeting to the City Commission. 

During this meeting, it was decided that City staff will develop an additional engagement and communication plan to present at the Public Safety Committee meeting on December 17, 2024. 

Early Engagement and Feedback with Bristol Ave.

On December 2, 2024, a meeting for property owners located near the 960 Bristol Ave NW parcel was held to understand perceptions and sentiment regarding the proposed pilot for deer management. Flyers regarding the program were delivered. Additionally, an optional digital survey was made available to residents.

Initial Proposal: Public Safety Committee

On November 19, 2024, Public Services presented an initial proposal for wildlife management and the deer hunting pilot. The Public Safety Commission decided to move forward with a combination of two options: 

1. Inform and educate residents on archery hunting on private property as well as the 960 Bristol Ave NW pilot program. 
2. Schedule the program for January 1-31 2025 on one property.  

Ongoing City Discussions: Summer 2023

In the Summer of 2023 at the Public Safety Committee, initial discussions regarding deer management occurred. The Public Safety Committee requested City staff to research strategies to manage the deer herd. 

Since then, deer management has been a consistent topic of discussion at both Public Safety Committee and City Commission meetings.