Friday, June 18, 2021

Wolves can 'pick off' diseased deer - yet WI plans more wolf killing

It is beyond mere irony that despite wolves being called nature's 'first responders' to the chronic wasting disease that threatens the state's herd and an annual hunt the DNR values statewide at $1.4 billion, the agency on Friday, a) closed the comment period on its plans for upcoming wolf killing seasons mandated by the state legislature, and, b) separately announced by email, below, that it has added another Wisconsin county to those where deer chronic wasting disease has already spread.

Q. Why can't this contradiction be fixed?

A. Because despite sloppy management and a history of wolf killing-quota disregard, and recent polling data and pleas from scientists and experts to the contrary, special interests have been given excessive control over Wisconsin wolf hunting policy.

Opinion: Wisconsin’s brutal wolf hunt shows hunters have too much sway over conservation policy

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Here is today's DNR deer wasting disease release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2021
Contact: Dan Lekie, DNR Wildlife Supervisor
Daniel.Lekie@wisconsin.gov or 920-838-1527

DNR Confirms CWD In Green Lake County Wild Deer;
New Baiting And Feeding Ban In Effect

BROOKLYN, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has confirmed a wild deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Green Lake County. The CWD-positive deer was an adult deer found dead in the Town of Brooklyn in early May 2021. This is the first wild deer that has tested positive for CWD in Green Lake County, and its location is also within ten miles of adjacent Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Waushara counties.
With this new CWD-detection, Winnebago County is now considered a CWD-affected county. As required by state law, the DNR will enact a new two-year ban on baiting and feeding of deer in Winnebago County effective July 1, 2021. State law requires the DNR to enact a ban on feeding and baiting deer in counties or portions of counties within a ten-mile radius of a wild or farm-raised deer that tests positive for CWD or tuberculosis.
Green Lake, Fond du Lac and Waushara counties are already identified as CWD-affected counties and already have baiting and feeding bans in place. This new CWD-positive detection will renew a three-year baiting and feeding ban in Green Lake County and two-year bans in Fond du Lac and Waushara counties.
"We are committed to working closely with local communities, including the citizen-based County Deer Advisory Councils as we explore future management options for this disease in Green Lake and the surrounding counties,” said Daniel Lekie, DNR Wildlife Supervisor.
In response to the detection of this CWD-positive wild deer, the DNR will:
Coordinate swiftly with County Deer Advisory Council members from the counties impacted by this detection to discuss response actions, including issuance of CWD surveillance permits this winter.
Determine surveillance activities to assess disease distribution and prevalence to also include:
Encouraging reporting of sick deer
Sampling vehicle-killed adult deer when feasible
Sampling adult deer harvested under agricultural damage permits
Encourage hunters to follow recommendations to help prevent the spread of CWD.
More information regarding baiting and feeding regulations and CWD in Wisconsin is available on the DNR’s baiting and feeding regulations webpage.
More information on how to have deer tested during the upcoming 2021-22 Wisconsin hunting seasons is available on the DNR’s sampling for chronic wasting disease webpage.