Changes to the Chronic Wasting Disease season framework in 2008, come as a result of the recommendations of the CWD Stakeholder Advisory Group, feedback from DNR-sponsored public hearings last spring and agency recommendations for managing the disease.
Some of the changes are obvious, others a bit more subtle. Perhaps the most far-reaching change regards the decision to combine the Disease Eradication Zone and Herd Reduction Zone into one Chronic Wasting Disease-Management Zone.
The rules also specify that hunters will be allowed to use rifles throughout the new zone. While streamlining procedures, the issue has raised concerns among some local officials who see the longer range capabilities as a potential threat to the safety of non-hunting residents.
Town governments in at least three communities - Ottawa and Eagle in Waukesha County and Christiana in Dane County - have passed ordinances prohibiting the use of rifles. The new ordinance for the town of Eagle prohibits the use of any caliber larger than .22 unless for the protection of life and property and at shooting ranges.
While townships have the power to prohibit the use of rifles, enforcement might be difficult. According to South Central Regional Wildlife Supervisor Eric Lobner, DNR law enforcement staff are not authorized to enforce local ordinances. He said any calls that come in to a conservation warden or the DNR hotline will be referred to local authorities.
The patchwork arrangement formed by separate rules among non-contiguous land areas could also create problems for hunters. Press releases to local media outlets will help, but absentee property owners and non-resident hunters with lease arrangements may not get the word.
The decision to discontinue the $2 DEZ landowner and hunter permits is perhaps the biggest pocketbook issue for some hunters. Expanding the scope of the program to cover the new CWD-MZ would have cost the DNR more than $850,000 in license sales.
"It did not make sense to continue the program in the face of funding shortages for CWD management," said outgoing CWD project leader Alan Crossley.
CWD positive found in Portage County
A seven-year old doe shot Sept. 20 tested positive for CWD at a hunting preserve near Junction City in Portage County. Alligator Creek Whitetails LLC is a 119-acre preserve with a herd of 150 whitetails.
In 2005, scores of animals at the Buckhorn Flats deer farm tested positive for the disease and were destroyed. All of the deer put down were either does or fawns.
The remaining population of male deer, however, mysteriously disappeared before U.S. Department of Agriculture shooters were able to destroy the animals. The farm's owner, Stan Hall, suggested that the deer might have escaped through a hole in the fence. Only a small number of deer were found in proximity to the opening, and the bucks were never located.
Authorities tested nearly 139,000 deer for CWD in Wisconsin between 2002 and 2008 with 990 free-ranging deer testing positive.
All have been within the CWD-MZ, including several along the border with Illinois. Since 2002, a total of 189 deer have tested positive in Illinois, most of them in areas bordering Wisconsin.
While testing in much of the CWD-MZ will be voluntary, hunters will be required to submit samples in parts of Iowa and Dane Counties, southeastern Wisconsin and near Devil's Lake State Park.
Deer health check effort moves north
More intensive testing will take place within the 18-county Northern Region of Wisconsin in 2008. This is in keeping with efforts to determine if the disease has spread.
In addition to CWD, officials are on the lookout for Bovine Tuberculosis or any other health concerns that might affect the deer herd.
"We have a high level of concern for Bovine TB because we're sandwiched between Minnesota and the UP," said DNR Regional Wildlife Supervisor Mike Zeckmeister.
Zeckmeister is acutely aware of the need to complete the task with the least cost to taxpayers.
"We're doing things a little differently up here to hold down costs," he said.
Instead of paying overtime to DNR staff at registration stations to gather samples for testing, his office has set up several points where hunters can bring in heads.
This approach appears consistent with less aggressive measures to "control" CWD, which appear to be gaining ground. In part, this trend may be due to budget constraints that continue to undermine previous efforts to eradicate the disease.
More likely, it results from the largely failed attempts to not only expunge the disease from the wild herd, but also the failure of current management efforts to bring deer populations anywhere close to DNR established goals within the more than 10,000 square miles comprising the current CWD-MZ. Deer densities for the area are more than 200 percent above goal.
Some of the changes are obvious, others a bit more subtle. Perhaps the most far-reaching change regards the decision to combine the Disease Eradication Zone and Herd Reduction Zone into one Chronic Wasting Disease-Management Zone.
The rules also specify that hunters will be allowed to use rifles throughout the new zone. While streamlining procedures, the issue has raised concerns among some local officials who see the longer range capabilities as a potential threat to the safety of non-hunting residents.
Town governments in at least three communities - Ottawa and Eagle in Waukesha County and Christiana in Dane County - have passed ordinances prohibiting the use of rifles. The new ordinance for the town of Eagle prohibits the use of any caliber larger than .22 unless for the protection of life and property and at shooting ranges.
While townships have the power to prohibit the use of rifles, enforcement might be difficult. According to South Central Regional Wildlife Supervisor Eric Lobner, DNR law enforcement staff are not authorized to enforce local ordinances. He said any calls that come in to a conservation warden or the DNR hotline will be referred to local authorities.
The patchwork arrangement formed by separate rules among non-contiguous land areas could also create problems for hunters. Press releases to local media outlets will help, but absentee property owners and non-resident hunters with lease arrangements may not get the word.
The decision to discontinue the $2 DEZ landowner and hunter permits is perhaps the biggest pocketbook issue for some hunters. Expanding the scope of the program to cover the new CWD-MZ would have cost the DNR more than $850,000 in license sales.
"It did not make sense to continue the program in the face of funding shortages for CWD management," said outgoing CWD project leader Alan Crossley.
CWD positive found in Portage County
A seven-year old doe shot Sept. 20 tested positive for CWD at a hunting preserve near Junction City in Portage County. Alligator Creek Whitetails LLC is a 119-acre preserve with a herd of 150 whitetails.
In 2005, scores of animals at the Buckhorn Flats deer farm tested positive for the disease and were destroyed. All of the deer put down were either does or fawns.
The remaining population of male deer, however, mysteriously disappeared before U.S. Department of Agriculture shooters were able to destroy the animals. The farm's owner, Stan Hall, suggested that the deer might have escaped through a hole in the fence. Only a small number of deer were found in proximity to the opening, and the bucks were never located.
Authorities tested nearly 139,000 deer for CWD in Wisconsin between 2002 and 2008 with 990 free-ranging deer testing positive.
All have been within the CWD-MZ, including several along the border with Illinois. Since 2002, a total of 189 deer have tested positive in Illinois, most of them in areas bordering Wisconsin.
While testing in much of the CWD-MZ will be voluntary, hunters will be required to submit samples in parts of Iowa and Dane Counties, southeastern Wisconsin and near Devil's Lake State Park.
Deer health check effort moves north
More intensive testing will take place within the 18-county Northern Region of Wisconsin in 2008. This is in keeping with efforts to determine if the disease has spread.
In addition to CWD, officials are on the lookout for Bovine Tuberculosis or any other health concerns that might affect the deer herd.
"We have a high level of concern for Bovine TB because we're sandwiched between Minnesota and the UP," said DNR Regional Wildlife Supervisor Mike Zeckmeister.
Zeckmeister is acutely aware of the need to complete the task with the least cost to taxpayers.
"We're doing things a little differently up here to hold down costs," he said.
Instead of paying overtime to DNR staff at registration stations to gather samples for testing, his office has set up several points where hunters can bring in heads.
This approach appears consistent with less aggressive measures to "control" CWD, which appear to be gaining ground. In part, this trend may be due to budget constraints that continue to undermine previous efforts to eradicate the disease.
More likely, it results from the largely failed attempts to not only expunge the disease from the wild herd, but also the failure of current management efforts to bring deer populations anywhere close to DNR established goals within the more than 10,000 square miles comprising the current CWD-MZ. Deer densities for the area are more than 200 percent above goal.
