CWD Research & Management Act included in federal Fiscal Year 2023 government funding deal

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act. The legislation should help Minnesota's efforts to stem the spread of CWD>

 In House and Senate Send Important Chronic Wasting Disease Legislation to President’s Desk, Kristyn Brady reported for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership:

Bipartisan support for the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act reflects the dire need to support state efforts to control the disease and ensure the health of wild deer herds with the best possible science.

Today, the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act was approved by Congress, advancing much-needed solutions for curbing the spread of this 100-percent fatal wildlife disease. The legislation now awaits only the president’s signature, having been included in the Fiscal Year 2023 government funding deal. The bill was previously passed by the House late last year. . . . .

How bipartisan was the vote last year? All of Minnesota and South Dakota's representatives voted for the bill, introduced by Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind. The late Jim Hagedorn represented Minnesota's First at the time of the vote in the House.

At the Duluth News Tribune, Northland Outdoors writer John Myers reports in Congress approves $70 million annually to battle chronic wasting disease that the passage last week came as part of the $1.7 trillion fiscal year 2023 government funding deal"

Congress late last week passed the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act that offers $70 million each year for the next five years to state and tribal natural resource agencies to curb the spread of the always fatal wildlife disease.

The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden this week as part of the $1.7 trillion fiscal year 2023 government funding deal. . . .

Brady continues in House and Senate Send Important Chronic Wasting Disease Legislation to President’s Desk:

. . . A peer-reviewed report published this month found that wildlife agencies in 16 CWD-positive states spent an average of $773,000 on disease management in 2021. Currently, the federal government invests just $10 million per year in these efforts through cooperative agreements between state and Tribal agencies and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In a 2022 poll, 88 percent of American voters said they support additional federal investment in CWD management at the state level.

“The National Deer Association has been working tirelessly to increase federal support for the research and management of CWD,” says Torin Miller, senior director of policy for the NDA. “We’re celebrating the passage of the CWD Research and Management Act, and we’re incredibly grateful to Representatives Kind and Thompson and Senators Hoeven and Heinrich for their dedication and leadership on this issue. We’re looking forward to efficient and effective implementation and finding additional ways to increase federal engagement and support to combat this devastating disease.”

The CWD Research and Management Act would split $70 million annually through fiscal year 2028 on management and research priorities. This includes $35 million per year for research that would focus on:

• Methods to effectively detect CWD in live and harvested deer and the surrounding environment
• Best practices for reducing CWD occurrence through sustainable harvest of deer and other cervids
• Factors contributing to spread of the disease locally, such as animal movement and scavenging

Another $35 million per year for management, including surveillance and testing, would prioritize:

• Areas with the highest incidence of CWD
• Areas responding to new outbreaks of CWD
• Areas without CWD that show the greatest risk of CWD emerging
• Jurisdictions demonstrating the greatest financial commitment to managing, monitoring, surveying, and researching CWD
• Efforts to develop comprehensive policies and programs focused on CWD management

The bill also includes authorization for federal, state, and Tribal agencies to develop educational materials to inform the public on CWD and directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to review its Herd Certification Program, which accredits captive deer operations as “low-risk” for CWD contamination but has proven inadequate to stem the spread of the disease.

“The captive Herd Certification Program represents an area where we still have much work to do,” says Andrew Earl, TRCP’s director of government relations. “By passing this legislation today, Congress has set us up for the next phase, in which the USDA must hold the captive deer industry accountable for its role in the rampant spread of CWD. Hunters will be pushing for the department to take a hard look at the persistent failures of the Herd Certification Program and identify specific ways to strengthen it.”

Click here for four ways Congress and the USDA can prevent captive deer from spreading CWD.

Bluestem is pleased to see the review of the USDA's Herd Certification Program.

Why does this group care? The organization, named for champion conservationist, Republican president Theodore Roosevelt, describes its mission:

We unite and amplify our partners’ voices to advance America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access.

In 1912, Roosevelt said, “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” While in the political arena, he succeeded in making conservation a top-tier national issue. T.R. had the foresight to address these issues still so significant to sportsmen today, understanding that if we want to safeguard critical habitat, productive hunting grounds, and favorite fishing holes for future generations, we must plan carefully today.

Read the rest of both articles at House and Senate Send Important Chronic Wasting Disease Legislation to President’s Desk, (Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership) and Congress approves $70 million annually to battle chronic wasting disease (Duluth News Tribune).

Related posts

• Bemidji-area Chronic Wasting Disease hunt in Deer Permit Area 184 produces over 100 samples
• MinnPost: Minnesota Democrats hope to sharply limit the deer farm industry in push to fight CWD
• Update: wild CWD detection in Beltrami County possibly connected to deer farm dump site
• DNR: Chronic wasting disease suspected in a wild deer in Bemidji area for the first time
• MN Chronic Wasting Disease dilemma: should new deer farms be blocked? The old bought out?
• Chronic Wasting Disease: St. Louis County permanently bans new or expanded cervid farms .
• Todd Miller's deer farm was depopulated Tuesday,
• On Facebook, operator of CWD doomed Winona County deer farm wears Miller Scrap hat 
• MN Board of Animal Health: CWD confirmed in quarantined Winona County captive deer herd
• Update: More on Miller family deer farm interests
• Senate DFL Leader Franzen raises conflict-of-interest concerns in Republican leader's role overturning bipartisan vote to protect wild deer 

Photo: Wild whitetail deer in Minnesota.

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