Meeting stresses challenges of CWD management
MADISON - To kick off a regional chronic wasting disease meeting it hosted in Madison last week, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources opened with live comments from its CEO, Preston Cole, and a video statement by the state's top elected executive, Gov. Tony Evers.
The appearances helped underscore the seriousness of the issue at hand.
But to the scientists and wildlife managers assembled for the 2019 Midwest CWD Collaboration Meeting, the messages likely provided only passing encouragement.
They've heard inspiring speeches before, only to be left with insufficient funding and no new tools to try to tackle what many say is the greatest wildlife disease challenge in the last century.
To move the needle on CWD, it would have heartened them to see a video of President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., joining arms and describing how they would work together to dramatically increase federal funding for research and to pass bipartisan legislation to assist in management of the deadly deer disease.
OK, that may be detached from reality.
But in the minds of many it's the type of top-level action that will ultimately be required to gain ground on CWD.
The disease, now found in 26 states, three provinces of Canada as well as Norway, Sweden, Finland and North Korea, continues to spread geographically and increase in prevalence.
To be fair, the Madison meeting had relatively modest objectives, primarily to assist regional collaboration on CWD research and management activities.
For Wisconsin leaders, it would help meet a goal that Cole and Evers have set to assess what is known, what is being worked on and what is planned on CWD research to prevent duplication of effort and wasted resources.
It wasn't – despite a DNR press release that called the meeting "unprecedented" – the first or even the 10th time many of the participants had gathered over CWD.
Many know each other well from similar, annual meetings of the wildlife health committee of the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
Nor were the issues new. Most of the items discussed were included in a 2002 implementation document produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist states, tribes and federal agencies with managing CWD in wild and captive herds.
As one participant (who requested anonymity) observed, "we haven't come very far, have we?"
Still, the WDNR was able to attract many "A-listers" from wildlife staffs and
conservation organizations in the region and beyond, including Lou Cornicelli of the Minnesota DNR, Matt Dunfee of the CWD Alliance, Bryan Richards of the U.S. Geological Survey, Chad Stewart of Michigan DNR, Nick Pinizzotto of the National Deer Alliance, Jason Sumners of the Missouri Department of Conservation and Mike Tonkovich of the Ohio DNR, to name a few.
In all, the meeting attracted scientists and wildlife managers from 12 states and several federal and tribal agencies.
Notable for its absence was the Illinois DNR, which, unlike Wisconsin, has continued to attempt to tamp down CWD infections in its state. Illinois has been able to keep CWD prevalence below 2% in its endemic area, including through the selective use of sharpshooters.
The prevalence rate is between 20 and 50% in many southern Wisconsin sampling areas, according to WDNR data.
The meeting took place Wednesday and Thursday at Monona Terrace conference center.
Bob Holsman, WDNR human dimensions specialist, facilitated the event. Several experts were invited to give presentations to the group, which also broke into klatches for discussion and brainstorming.
Mike Samuel, UW-Madison professor emeritus, gave a presentation Tuesday titled "Lessons from 15-plus years of CWD Research in Wisconsin." Since CWD is a frequency-dependent disease, Samuel said the only way to beat it is to reduce the prevalence in the population.
That would require removing more CWD-positive animals from a population each year than contract the disease. He showed studies of western deer and elk herds where CWD was linked to population
declines.
In general, he said studies have shown once the prevalence rate in adult does reaches 30% you can expect to see a CWD-related population declines.
"Do everything you can to prevent it from getting into your area," Samuel said to the participants. "You're unlikely to eradicate CWD once it's established."
Among research needs, Samuel cited a CWD vaccine as a top goal.
In Michigan, elected officials have responded to CWD by providing $5 million of general tax money to the DNR for research and management.
Stewart, who supervises the Michigan DNR's deer, elk and moose program, said the agency is using the additional funding to pursue "BHAGs," or big hairy audacious goals.
One is improved CWD tests, perhaps a field test that could be used by hunters. Another is improved technology to detect and treat environmental contamination.
"Wouldn't it be great if we could treat infected areas and in essence denature or cleanse them?" Stewart said.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect is working with hunters and landowners to kill enough CWD-positive deer in infected areas to effectively manage the disease.
"That's the elephant in the room," said Sumners of the Missouri Department of Conservation. "There are significant impacts to the deer resource if we don't take action."
The assembled wildlife managers and researchers are the good guys in the battle against CWD. But these "white hats" can only do so much.
The issue put to the test Holsman's considerable skills as a facilitator.
At several points, the room fell silent for long periods in response to his queries.
Many of the participants, with decades of wildlife management experience, know CWD is the greatest challenge of their careers. With a lack of political support and inadequate funding, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.
Some believe CWD will only be taken seriously if it infects cows or humans. No one in the room wanted to see the CWD crisis deepen, much less reach those cataclysmic points.
Mike Foy of Madison, a retired DNR wildlife biologist who observed the meeting, said the disease needs a Leslie Groves to take charge. Groves, a lieutenant general in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, led the Manhattan Project in the 1940s to develop the atomic bomb.
At the end of two days, the participants did agree on several priorities, including expanded research into testing methods, scientific assessments of management actions and enhanced collaboration on CWD management and communication.
Among the goals are live animal tests, field tests and methodologies that do not require lymph node material, said Scott Hull, WDNR chief of wildlife and forestry research.
Time will tell what advancements are presented on the CWD front and whether they can make a significant difference in disease management. For the sake of wildlife managers, the answers better come in the near future, not decades down the road.
Cole said he was hopeful the collaborative spirit on display at the meeting would help agencies "get ahead of this insidious disease."
If our elected representatives at the state and federal levels would show the same commitment, there's no telling how much progress we could make.