The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that a dead wild doe found January 23 northeast of Merrifield tested positive for CWD on February 14.
Not unlike the CWD found in wild deer in Southeastern Minnesota, the discovery follows an earlier incidence of the prion-based disorder in a captive herd of farmed deer:
The DNR began surveillance around a CWD-positive captive cervid facility near Merrifield starting in the 2017 hunting season. With outstanding cooperation from hunters, the DNR has sampled more than 8,600 deer in its north-central surveillance zone during the past two years. None of those deer tested positive. Since this is the first positive wild deer found in the area, DNR is hopeful the disease is isolated.
Of course, there's some funding in there for the Board of Animal Health.
Various news reports have more--and the news suggests Walz has moved from pinning the responsibility for lack of action on pushback from the captive deer industry during a debate at Game Fair 2018 to practicing regulatory humility toward that very industry.
There's servant leadership--and then there's regulatory capture.
Regulatory humility: the Walz response
The DNR CWD management page notes:
Gov. Tim Walz also is proposing new funding of $4.57 million over the next two years and $1.1 million annually to combat the disease. Activities funded would include disease surveillance and response; enforcement; and outreach to landowners.
However, the department press release, New CWD-positive deer in Crow Wing County and southeastern Minnesota require additional disease monitoring and management, has more:
Gov. Walz proposes new funding to combat CWD; DNR plans disease response efforts
The Department of Natural Resources has confirmed chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a wild deer in Crow Wing County. This test result marks the first time in Minnesota the fatal neurological disease has been found in a wild deer outside of the southeastern part of the state.
Previous discoveries of the disease in wild deer have been concentrated predominantly in Fillmore County, with additional discoveries in Houston and Winona counties in the past two months.
As a result of these discoveries, the DNR is planning additional disease response actions, and Gov. Tim Walz is proposing new funding of $4.57 million over the next two fiscal years, and $1.1 million annually thereafter to combat the disease, including surveillance and response, enforcement, and outreach to landowners. . . .
DNR will also work closely with the Board of Animal Health, which regulates Minnesota’s captive deer and elk. Strommen emphasized that “I will take all steps within my authority to ensure the facility with CWD-positive deer has adequate safeguards in place to protect Minnesota’s wild deer.”
Board Senior Veterinarian Dr. Mackenzie Reberg affirmed, “The Board’s role is to protect the health of livestock in the state, and we are concerned about any detection of CWD in Minnesota. We believe in fighting this disease from all fronts and using science, surveillance and teamwork to stop CWD.”
As one might guess, there's some money here for the BAH. Forum News staff writer Dana Ferguson reports in Chronic wasting disease reported near Brainerd; Walz proposes $4.6M for rapid response:
The DNR would get $4.6 million to boost its CWD surveillance and rapid response efforts between this summer and 2021 as part of Walz's proposal. And the department would see lower appropriations, $1.1 million a year, after that period.
Walz's proposal would also put an additional $208,000 to the Board of Animal Health in 2020 and $529,000 starting in 2021. The extra dollars would aim to improve monitoring of farmed deer.
“As a lifelong sportsman, I know how urgent this issue is for Minnesotans,” Walz said in a statement. “The Minnesota DNR is working hard to contain chronic wasting disease. This critical funding would help ensure they have the best tools and resources available to maintain deer health and management across the state.”
This move seem to be push back on some elements of Roseville Democrat Jamie Becker-Finn's comprehensive plan to immediately address the CWD outbreak. On Tuesday, Dave Orrick reported in the St. Paul Pioneer Press article Chronic wasting disease is a growing threat. Here’s what deer hunters and lawmakers want to do about it:
A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and deer hunting groups on Monday rolled out a sweeping series of proposals to address the growing threat of chronic wasting disease in Minnesota’s deer population.
From a crackdown on deer farms to more money for surveillance and cutting-edge research, the proposals, billed as the state’s first “comprehensive plan,” come at a time when concern is growing that the disease might not only hamper the state’s 500,000 deer hunters’ annual pursuit but also pose a public health concern. . . .
The DNR is supposed to guard our wildlife, right? But oversight of cervid farms (deer and elk) is actually done by the state Board of Animal Health.
One proposal backed by Democrats would shift that power to the DNR.
Some Republicans have questioned whether that’s needed. Supporters point to a CWD report earlier this year by the nonpartisan office of Legislative Auditor that found the Board of Animal Health failed to enforce numerous deer and elk regulations, including verifying that fences were being maintained, and ensuring that captive herds were being properly monitored for the disease.
Read Orrick's take on the latest developments in New chronic wasting case in wild deer in Crow Wing County; Walz seeks more money:
Wildlife managers have confirmed chronic wasting disease in a wild deer in Crow Wing County of east-central Minnesota, marking the first discovery of the fatal brain disease among the state’s wild deer outside the southeastern corner of Minnesota.
Lou Cornicelli, wildlife research manager for the Department of Natural Resources, said Friday the deer was found dead a half-mile from a farm near Merrifield where captive deer have tested positive for CWD.
He says it doesn’t appear the deer escaped, but he believes the farm is the likely source of the infection.
The disease previously had been found in Minnesota wild deer only in Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties.
Deer farms, which often transport deer across the country as breeders seek to grow deer with larger antlers desired by some hunters, are increasingly drawing scrutiny as a potential vector for the disease. . . .
Here's the video of Walz on CWD before he was elected:
Map: Where the deceased zombie wild deer was found in Crow Wing County. Via DNR.
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