Approved township hunters tracked and killed 127 deer, compared to 90 last yea, according to a report released this week.

According to Parks and Land Management Coordinator Jane Greenway, the plan was put into place because the township believed deer were responsible for too many accidents on the roads.

“They are not going away,” she said. “The problem is that nine times out of 10, they jump out in front of you, not the other way around.”

The plan is exclusively a bow-hunting endeavor that Greenway said would not change.

Meridian Township’s neighbors to the west might not have the magnitude of the deer problem according to data gathered by Meridian Township, but East Lansing Environmental Services Manager Catherine DeShambo said a plan is in the works.

“We are in the early stages of developing a deer management plan that will be comprehensive and look to the future to assess population levels and problem areas,” she said.

Greenway said once the township was able to get the logistics set in stone, they were able to conduct the plan on 1,200 acres of the 2,000 owned by the town.

The plan has gone off without much complaint from the town board or the public, Greenway said.

“I can count on one hand complaints from the public,” she said. “Some of the complaints have actually come from hunters who are illegally hunting on unauthorized land.”

If anything, the public and township officials are calling for more deer removal, Greenway said.

“We love the deer, and we don’t want to kill them, but we also don’t want them jumping in front of our cars,” she said.

DeShambo said she wasn’t sure of how similar the East Lansing and Meridian Township plans will look but said she has heard concerns from some residents that her department is looking to address.

She said her department has gone to city council a few times and will go back in February to present new information. The plan currently consists of tips offered online on what residents can do to keep the deer away from their vegetation.