Roadkill Is Put To Work Along Md. Highways

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Making Roadkill Useful

Area motorists kill scores of deer every week. In Frederick County, state highway workers have begun hauling dead deer to compost stalls to turn them into mulch.

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"Lance the stomach if the carcass is bloated," she advises in one manual. "Explosive release of gases can result in odor problems and would blow the cover material off the composting carcass."

Such concerns notwithstanding, Bonhotal said composting often is the best available option, she said.

"I think it will catch on pretty quickly," she said.

But skeptics said animal flesh actually impedes the natural composting process, which is better suited for grass clippings and vegetable refuse. And not all regulators are enamored.

In Montana, the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department won't let highway workers spread compost produced from roadkill, officials said. The department is concerned about the spread of chronic wasting disease, akin to mad cow disease, in deer.

Doug Moeller, head maintenance engineer at the Montana highway department's Missoula office, said if he can't persuade wildlife regulators to allow him to apply the compost roadside, he will simply keep the compost at highway department facilities. He prefers composting over the old method of dragging roadkill to what even in Montana are no longer out-of-the-way places. "We had too many complaints from people," he said.

At the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Bob Beyer, an associate director, said he has no problems with the program. He is concerned about chronic wasting disease, though, and said his agency tests more than 1,000 deer a year for it.

No cases have been found, but if one is found, Beyer said, his agency won't allow highway workers to spread their compost.