CWD causes farm to be depopulated in Kewaskum
44 deer, 16 elk killed by state and federal agents
As chronic wasting disease cases mounted in its captive herd, a Washington County deer and elk farm was depopulated last month by state and federal agents.
Forty-four white-tailed deer and 16 elk were killed Nov. 15 in the action at Tamarack Deer and Elk Farm in Kewaskum, according to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Subsequent testing showed 11 of the animals (8 deer and 3 elk) were CWDpositive.
The depopulation came 9 months after the fatal deer disease was identified at Tamarack. The first CWD-positive animal documented at the facility was a whitetail buck found dead there in February.
Chronic wasting disease is found in deer, elk, moose and related animals. It is caused by a misformed protein, or prion, that can be spread in saliva, feces, urine and other bodily fluids.
It is among a family of diseases known
as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including mad cow disease, scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
Although it has not been linked to illness in humans, health experts advise hunters and others not to consume meat from a CWD-positive animal.
The action at the Kewaskum farm was the fourth depopulation this year of a CWD-positive Wisconsin captive cervid facility.
It provides further evidence that rules and policies intended to prevent the spread of the fatal deer disease in the deer farming industry are not working.
Not only has CWD been found at an increasing number of captive deer facilities, but funding to remove diseased herds is done at tax payers expense.
Although four Wisconsin sites have been depopulated this year, eight other CWD-positive deer farms or shooting preserves remain open.
Prior to 2013, state agriculture officials depopulated every CWD-positive facility that was identified, according to state records. The change in policy has been strongly criticized by many in the Wisconsin conservation community.
"DATCP’s policy of allowing CWD contaminated facilities to remain in business and in some cases continue to move animals is the single biggest threat regarding geographic spread of the disease," said Dave Clausen, a veterinarian and former chairman of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board. "There is no scientific or epidemiological basis for such a policy."
Wisconsin has 380 registered deer farms, according to DATCP.
Since 2001, the fatal deer disease has been found on 23. Fifteen have been depopulated due to CWD findings, including Tamarack and a sister facility, Copper Hills Hunting Preserve in Bayfield
eliminate that. I felt we prepared the right way and we executed that pretty well.”
Savannah State (3-8), which visits the Kohl Center at 7 p.m. Thursday, doesn’t appear to have the personnel to deny Trice. But Big Ten opponents likely will attempt to set up a roadblock on the right wing and force Trice to his left until he proves he can score just as effectively on that side of the court.
“There is always something I can work on, in every game,” said Trice, who is shooting 55.4 percent from threepoint range and 48.2 percent overall. “Basketball is a game of imperfections. I learned a lot from what Marquette tried to do with me and ball screens, forcing me left and trying to get it out of my hands.
“There’s definitely things I can work on but I used it as a learning experience.” County.
Copper Hills was depopulated earlier this year after it received 23 whitetails from Tamarack.
Both Copper Hills and Tamarack are owned by Dirk and Jane Stolz of Kewaskum.
The Stolzes were paid $52,000 after the Bayfield County site was depopulated, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials.
They stand to receive about $90,000 for the animals killed in Kewaskum, according to the standard rate for state indemnity.
State law provides for an indemnity payment to a livestock owner for animals condemned due to a contagious or infectious disease.
Tamarack was established in 1997. The business sold semen, antlers, breeder does, breeder bucks and other deer and elk products derived from its captive herd, according to information on the Whitetails of Wisconsin website.
The Kewaskum farm will be cleaned and disinfected following U.S. Department of Agriculture protocols for depopulated facilities, according to DATCP.
Captive cervids will be prohibited from being kept there for 5 years.
Since CWD prions are known to persist in the environment, Tom Hauge, retired director of wildlife for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, expressed concern over the risk such sites pose to wild deer in the area.
In the Tamarack case, about 60 deer
Of the eight shots Trice took at Marquette, four came from the right side, two came from the top of the key and two came from the left wing.
His only make from the right side was a jump hook on the baseline over Sam Hauser.
He hit 1 of 2 three-pointers from the top of the key, with the basket off a set play that featured a double screen by Ethan Happ and Aleem Ford.
Trice missed an open three-pointer from the left wing but buried a tough step-back jumper from just inside the three-point line from that side. That basket gave UW a 51-48 lead with 10 minutes 21 seconds left in regulation.
He also had an impressive pass to Happ for a basket after driving hard from the left wing.
“I think Meech is fine going to his and elk were kept on in a 15-acre fenced enclosure surrounded by a single fence.
Captive animals at Tamarack are the only CWD-positive findings to date in Washington County.
Since 2002, 715 wild deer (including 107 in 2018) in Washington County have been tested for the disease; all have been negative, according to DNR records.
There are no "definitive plans" in place to depopulate any of the other eight CWD-positive facilities in Wisconsin, DATCP officials said this week.
The site with the highest number of CWD-positive animals detected to date is Wilderness North near Eland in Marathon County. The shooting preserve had 84 CWD-positive deer as of Nov. 2, according to DATCP. The single-fenced facility remains open and with deer on site.
One deer transferred from Tamarack to Copper Hills was never found.
State officials will continue to search for it, according to DATCP. Both Tamarack and Copper Hills remain under quarantine.
Clausen, the former NRB chairman, was hopeful the state's agriculture agency would adopt a different strategy under the administration of Governorelect Tony Evers.
"DATCP is completely ignoring the impact of their policy on one of our important Public Trust assets," Clausen said. "I would suggest Gov. Evers remind the new DATCP Secretary of those responsibilities."
left,” UW assistant coach Dean Oliver said. “There’s a lot of moves we’ve worked on going to his left. That is not a major concern.
“That is fine by us. He has worked on going either direction. He has the ability to go either direction.”
Oliver acknowledged the Badgers were prepared for Marquette's defensive game plan but didn't execute as well as they needed.
"We didn’t do what we planned to do," he said. "I’d say the preparation was there but the execution wasn’t. It is hard to mimic what a defense is going to do exactly.
"And then you throw in the pressure of the game and the atmosphere that we played in and you’re going to have a little bit of slippage. That is what happened.
"But I don’t think it was a huge factor in missing shots or missing guys."