Walker outlines tougher new CWD measures
Deer, alive or dead, not allowed to be moved from affected counties
Wisconsin agencies will push for more aggressive rules to contain the spread of chronic wasting disease, Gov. Scott Walker announced Wednesday.
Two measures would be aimed at the captive cervid industry, including a prohibition on movement of live deer from CWD-affected counties and a requirement for enhanced fencing at all Wisconsin deer farms.
In another rule, hunters and others would be banned from moving carcasses from CWD-affected counties.
“We need to protect Wisconsin’s hunting traditions and long-standing heritage by working together to contain the spread of chronic wasting disease in deer,” Walker said in a statement.
The first detections of CWD in Wisconsin were announced in 2002. Over the last 16 years, the disease has continually spread and increased in prevalence, both in wild deer and at deer farms. The Department of Natural Resources now considers 53 of the state’s 72 counties “CWD affected.”
The disease has been linked to population level declines in herds of deer and elk in western states. In first-year results of a Wisconsin study released earlier this year, DNR researchers found CWD-positive deer died at three times the rate of uninfected animals.
The disease has not been shown to
cause illness in humans. However, health experts recommend meat from CWD-positive animals not be consumed.
In a move long-recommended by animal disease experts, Walker said the state would ban the movement of live deer from deer farms in CWD-affected counties.
Wisconsin agriculture officials had adopted a policy that allowed such transfers, including movement of live deer to shooting preserves.
In addition, Walker said a rule would be developed to require enhanced fencing at all 376 registered deer farms in the state.
In the proposed rule, enhanced fencing would require either a second 8-foot-high fence, an electric fence or an impermeable physical barrier.
A bill introduced last year by Reps. Nick Milroy (D-South Range) and Dana Wachs (D-Eau Claire) sought to bolster fencing requirements at Wisconsin deer farms. However, it failed to get a hearing in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Instead, a Republican-authored bill to ease deer baiting and feeding restrictions was passed by the Legislature and signed by Walker.
The third rule described Wednesday would ban movement of deer carcasses from CWD-affected counties. Under the provision, hunters could still quarter the deer within the county it was harvested or bone it out and then take the meat anywhere in the state, but no portion of the spinal cord could be attached or moved.
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the Department of Natural Resources have been tasked with implementing the rules, Walker said.
No timeline was given for deer farms to implement the tougher fencing requirement.
The measures are designed to do “everything the state can to combat” the deadly deer disease, Walker said.
“Not only for public health and public safety, but for public confidence that we’re going to have a good harvest and people are confident we have a good deer population in the state,” Walker said.
However, they would not require depopulation of CWD-positive deer farms, a policy the state pursued prior to about 2015.
In addition, they do not attempt to reduce the spread or prevalence of the disease already present in the wild deer population, noted Bryan Richards, CWD specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Madison.
“These are aggressive ‘preventative measures’ that may help reduce the potential for human-assisted movements and leaking of disease out of captive facilities,” Richards said. “They are not aggressive management measures that could alter the progression of disease via deer-to-deer transmission.”
George Meyer, former DNR secretary and current executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, said his organization supports the proposals.
“We, and other groups, have previously recommended such steps,” Meyer said. “We are pleased the governor is calling on the agencies to put them into effect by emergency rule so they can take effect as soon as possible.”