Recycling biodegradable material to improve the land along state highways is environmentally friendly and it saves money previously spent on digging graves and buying compost, said Jim Jones, SHA chief facility maintenance officer. SHA got the idea to compost the deer from West Virginia, where compost is made from hog carcasses, he said. In 2001, the Maryland State Highway Administration opened a facility in Carroll County for collecting deer and allowing them to decompose. In 2007, workers picked up 1,056 deer carcasses in Frederick County and 576 deer in Carroll County. At these facilities, highway workers drop deer carcasses into bins filled with sawdust and a mixture of horse manure and wood chips. read more

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,