RE: Taxidermy permit???
Perhaps you don’t understand what has happened with the changing of the guard on Taxidermists being permitted.
Presently there is nothing to say that they will not still be required to take and exam and get a permit in the future. Their regulatory status is presently undetermined other then who they are responsible to.
Perhaps you can’t see any correlation to Taxidermists and CWD but that only tells me that you haven’t thought things through very far or you don’t know enough about CWD.
Taxidermist shops are probably the most likely place for a CWD specimen to show up since it travels with the head, the bones or the lymph modes. Those are the very things taxidermists are most likely to get into their shops and if it isn’t disposed of properly it will be spread into our wild deer. That is exactly how it got into New York State and there is no reason to think the same thing couldn’t happen here with relaxed regulations or enforcement.
It really doesn’t have as much to due with an exam as it does with just have control of who is doing taxidermy and having some way of dealing with them in a legally controlled way to safeguard our future wildlife resources. Without sufficient regulations there will be both more illegal and unsafe action occurring in the business. Is that what is best for the future of wildlife, hunting or the taxidermy business?
Dick Bodenhorn
WCO, Elk County