LANSING, MI - The House Natural Resources Committee will appoint a special committee to consider a bill that would ban deer sterilization programs like Ann Arbor's, Chairman Rep. Gary Howell, R-North Branch, announced on Wednesday.

Rep. Triston Cole, R-Mancelona, breakfasted on smoked venison before testifying against Ann Arbor's decision to sterilize deer instead of killing them in the House Natural Resources Committee last week.

He's the sponsor of House Bill 5321, which would prohibit the Department of Natural Resources from issuing permits to sterilize game species. The only such permit in existence exists for Ann Arbor, which is using sterilization along with culling in an attempt to curb its deer population.

"It's about a precedent on how we're going to move forward to manage our game species," Cole said in the first of two hearings the House Natural Resources Committee held on the bill.

The Department of Natural Resources regulates game species, which are considered a statewide resource. Typically, sterilization is not an approved population control method. But the department has issued a research permit to Ann Arbor that allows the city to control its deer population partly through sterilization.

Ann Arbor's deer population, residents say, is too dense in some neighborhoods. The city is attempting to control the population through both a traditional culling and a non-lethal sterilization method where they remove the ovaries from female deer.

Tom Crawford, Ann Arbor CFO and 2018 deer management project manager, said the city's approach was really three-pronged. In addition to the sterilization and the culling, the city is focusing on educating residents about the deer population and efforts to curb it. He said close to 75 percent of residents support the city's deer management plan.

The city isn't acting on emotions, Crawford said, but has looked at things like aerial surveys to guide its decision-making.

"We're trying to be very data driven," Crawford said.

Ann Arbor uses sterilization in areas where culling isn't feasible, he said. They've established through tagging that some deer never leave densely populated areas, with up to 4,000 residents per square mile. Many neighborhoods have schools the city can't shoot within a certain distance of, and only 10 feet between homes.

"There's a number of reasons why sterilization is appropriate for our community," Crawford said.

Bernard Banet, an Ann Arbor resident, testified in opposition to the bill.

"I think that this attempt to preempt the municipality of Ann Arbor and others and also the DNR is misguided," said Banet, who lives in one of the sterilization study units.

Organizations line up on both sides of the issue. The Michigan United Conservation Clubs, a hunting and conservation group, testified in support of the bill. The nonprofit Attorneys for Animals testified in opposition to the bill. The Michigan Municipal League is also opposed to the bill, while various hunting and trapping groups support it.

But those arguments will now be presented to a subcommittee, Howell said. He appointed Rep. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, Rep. Curt Vanderwall, R-Ludington, and Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, to the subcommittee. Vanderwall will chair the subcommittee, Howell said.

"This is an opportunity to delve into several related issues in detail," Howell said.

The move is a diversion from the typical legislative process. Usually a bill goes through the committee process and does not travel through a subcommittee. In this case, the subcommittee will make a recommendation regarding the bill's future.