The Michigan House wants to halt permits that allow sterilizing hunting game — which could potentially draw the curtain on Ann Arbor's endeavors to contain its raging deer population.
In a 69-40 vote on Tuesday, lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting the state Department of Natural Resources from issuing more sterilization permits until April 1, 2022.
The legislation would allow Ann Arbor to finish its ongoing sterilization work with White Buffalo, a private company contracted by the city to remove deer ovaries in an experimental research program.
Ann Arbor's ongoing deer infestation is especially fraught due to a dense urban setting in some neighborhoods that makes directly shooting the deer too dangerous.
The city is the only in Michigan with a DNR-approved game sterilization plan.
The bill heads to the Senate.