Sometimes, a newspaper chain can help spread the news statewide. So it is with this Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) article published in Forum Communications papers.
Via the Rochester Post Bulletin, John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune reports in Minnesota deer hunters group wants to end deer farming:
After little action by the state Legislature, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association says repeated chronic wasting disease outbreaks on deer farms threaten the future of hunting.
fter the 2021 Minnesota Legislature adjourned earlier this month without taking major action to fight chronic wasting disease, the state’s largest deer hunters’ group is now pushing for an outright end to deer farms to stop the spread of the disease from captive deer into the wild.
The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association wants to ban transportation of farmed deer within the state, except deer going directly to slaughter, and ban any new farmed deer from entering the state.
The group also is calling for a moratorium on any new deer farm licenses and then a phased, state-funded buyout of all existing deer herds over several years, eventually eliminating all deer farming in Minnesota.
“We’re really past the point of taking incremental measures now, like double fencing or restricting (shipping) movement of farmed deer,” said Craig Engwall, executive director of the Grand Rapids-based Minnesota Deer Hunters Association. “For the sake of the state’s population of wild deer, and our tradition of deer hunting, we need to eliminate deer farms entirely.”
The effort comes after a case in Beltrami County this spring where a deer farm had multiple infected animals and had shared deer with a dozen or more additional farms in Minnesota and four other states. Moreover, dead deer from the Beltrami County herd were illegally dumped on public land where traces of the disease remain in the soil.
A representative of the Minnesota Deer Farmers Association did not immediately return requests to comment on the association's proposal. But deer farmers have said they are being unfairly targeted for a disease that is already spreading on its own in the wild.
Engwall said the association is planning to push the deer herd buyout plan in coming months to put pressure on the 2022 Minnesota Legislature after the recent session failed to enact any new deer farm regulations.
The 2021 Legislature did move to give the Department of Natural Resources joint or “concurrent” enforcement of existing state laws on deer farms only, sharing the job with the Board of Animal Health. But the Legislature, namely the Senate, stopped short of action to limit movement of deer between farms or other restrictions on deer farms that both the deer hunters group and DNR wildlife officials had asked for. . . .
Read the rest of Myers' lengthy and well-researched article at the Post Bulletin or whichever Forum Communications paper you prefer.
Related posts:
- Just in: House DFL Lawmakers urge resignation of Minnesota Board of Animal Health President
- Star Tribune: Deer farming and "CWD-infested dump site on public land" in Beltrami County
- Are deer farmers posing against MN DNR rule pausing movement of captive whitetails?
- MN DNR temporarily bans movement of farmed whitetails in state to protect wild deer health
- 5 more MN deer farm herds exposed to CWD; Beltrami carcass dump site inquiry continues
- News release: U of M testing finds presence of CWD prions at Beltrami Co. carcass dump site
- BAH: Southern Minnesota CWD investigation identifies new infection in Beltrami County
- Concerned about CWD in MN deer? Learn about new research from MNPRO's Peter Larsen
- Some of the science at the center of Update on Chronic Wasting Disease Efforts hearing
- VIDEO: MNHouse passes bill for process to extend funding for ENRTF projects for one year
- Session Daily: Experts want to study how CWD flows in state's waterways
- Sen. Andrew Lang seems behind the curve on current funding & progress of CWD test research
- VIDEO: University of Minnesota scientists share CWD research, search for test with lawmakers
- Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund plan from U of M for CWD diagnostic test
- Peter Larsen slideshow: Development of Advanced Diagnostic Tests for CWD by U of M
Photo: A wild white-tailed buck.
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