I found an article about this.
State DNR has new plan to control chronic wasting disease
Anita Weier "” 11/12/2008 5:31 am
A new 10-year plan being proposed by the state Department of Natural Resources to control a fatal brain-wasting disease in deer and elk might assuage hunters and legislative critics, but it won't be any more successful than the agency's original eradication efforts, says a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor.
"It is a politically comfortable approach that will probably be accepted by hunters and many members of the general public and will have very little effect on the rate of spread of chronic wasting disease and the long-term dangers it threatens," said Tom Givnish, a botany professor.
These threats include a possible jump of the disease at some point into livestock, he added. The DNR plan states that the risk of transmission to traditional livestock is low but may not be zero.
The new plan focuses on preventing new introductions of CWD, controlling its distribution and intensity, and responding to new outbreaks.
The DNR has conceded that its initial efforts to control the disease through eradication of the deer herd failed. The agency no longer aims to eliminate the deer herd in the core CWD area -- primarily southwestern Wisconsin and the state's southeastern boundary with Illinois -- but is instead focusing on reducing the number of deer in a disease management area that now includes about 20 counties in southern Wisconsin.
Givnish, who sat on an advisory committee that helped the DNR develop its new plan, says that it is going to be much harder to eradicate the disease now that it has spread so far. He notes the governor could have declared an emergency and called in the National Guard to kill deer when the disease was first found in Wisconsin near Mount Horeb in 2002.
"Not everything that could have been done has been done," he said.
To be fair, the DNR did try to completely eradicate the white-tailed deer herd in that area, but the agency's plan never got full cooperation from hunters and landowners in the area. Some state legislators opposed it as well.
Hence, a full-fledged attempt to kill the entire herd was never made, and the disease eventually spread to most of southern Wisconsin.
The agency backed away from its initial plans after a 2006 state audit found the DNR spent more than $32 million in eradication efforts that failed to stop the spread of the disease or even to reduce the deer herd.
But Givnish fears the new policy will do even less to stop the spread of CWD.
"They think they can eradicate 'sparks' going into more areas, but without eradicating in the core area, more sparks will constantly turn up," he said.
The new plan is scheduled to go before the Natural Resources Board in January. The entire proposal is available on the agency's
Web site, or it can be obtained by calling 264-6046; comments will be accepted through Dec. 13.
The plan calls for extending the regular hunting season for landowners in the CWD management zone through March 31. It would also implement a consistent hunting season in the CWD zone through 2012 so hunters are not confused by changing regulations.
Other parts of the plan include:
[ul][*]Conducting focused sharpshooting on public and private lands where permission can be obtained in areas of disease clusters along the edges of known CWD areas.[*]Ensuring that hunters have the option of testing for CWD in areas with the highest prevalence of the disease.[*]Pursuing a statewide ban on the feeding and baiting of deer to reduce the risk of transmission of the disease, which is spread from deer to deer and possibly in the environment where deer gather.[*]Conducting disease surveillance surveys every five years outside the management zone to detect any new outbreaks.[*]Encouraging the proper disposal of deer carcasses from areas inside and outside the state where CWD has been detected. [/ul]
The plan's success would be reviewed after five years to make any necessary changes. Tom Hauge, director of the DNR's wildlife program, calls it a solid plan and says Wisconsin residents have to accept that CWD will be around for a while.
"We will not be able to take this deer herd from where it is right now to a very low level anytime soon," Hauge said. "Hunters are doing a great job, but they can only take so many deer. The disease and the deer herd are a formidable combination that we cannot cure quickly."
Since 2002, the state has tested 142,565 deer and found 993 infected with CWD.
"We will need to continue intensive monitoring of CWD prevalence and distribution over the next 10 years, and adapt based upon what we learn," Alan Crossley, CWD project leader for the DNR, said in a written statement.
Edgar Harvey Jr., chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, said he has not read the entire plan but that his group opposes the use of sharpshooters based on public sentiment. The Conservation Congress also does not like the DNR's decision to allow the use of rifles in the CWD management zone. "We recommended that weapons choice be returned to the counties," he said.
Hauge expects continued opposition to a statewide feeding and baiting ban, which exists in the CWD management zone and areas where the disease has been found on deer farms.
Anita Weier "” 11/12/2008 5:31 am
Wisconsin DNR openly admitted to failing efforts!
