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Since You Asked: Roadkill salvage bill rolling through Oregon Legislature Tuesday May 23, 2017 at 12:01 AM Mark Freeman Mail Tribune @MTwriterFreeman I understand that the Oregon Legislature is considering a bill that would let Oregonians keep road-killed animals to eat. I know they've talked about this many times in the past and nothing's ever come from it. Is this one, ahem, dead in the water as well? — T.C., Medford We at Since You Asked Central appreciate a good pun, especially when it comes to talking about the latest effort by some Oregonians to get a meals-under-wheels program going with roadkill here. And we're here to tell you, T.C., that this latest effort for going grille-to-grill with road-killed deer or elk is the farthest along toward adoption than any efforts before it. Senate Bill 372 would require the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to create a wildlife-salvage permit program so people who want to salvage road-killed meat could do so from deer and elk accidentally killed as the result of a collision. Any antlers on male roadkill would have to be surrendered to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the bill calls for roadkill processing only for human consumption. In the past, legislators and Oregon wildlife managers have been wary of such bills, saying it could lead to a bumper crop of roadkills because of the potential incentive for not missing a deer in the headlights. Other concerns have been raised about the quality of road-killed meat. The latest bill includes a liability exemption for ODFW from any loss or damage arising from picking up, transporting, butchering and eating roadkill. The bill is, ahem, picking up traction as it steamrolls through the Oregon Legislature. It passed the Oregon Senate by a near-unanimous vote and currently is assigned to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, where it has a work session scheduled for today. If it comes out of the committee with a do-pass recommendation, it would get in line to be heard on the House floor. The bill's main sponsor is state Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, who could end up with the moniker "Roadkill Bill" should this become law. That's something to chew on. — Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.