7-9-19 wisconsin regulators propose mandatory chronic wasting disease tests

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Natural Resources is recommending that hunters in parts of western Wisconsin be required to have deer they shoot inspected for chronic wasting disease during the gun season this fall.   CWD affects deer’s brains, causing them to grow thin, act abnormally and eventually die.  The agency’s Chippewa Valley CWD Advisory Team of hunters suggested the testing orders in six townships in Eau Claire, Dunn and Pepin counties.  The advisory team consists of seven people from Eau Claire, Chippewa, Buffalo, Trempealeau, Pepin and Dunn counties. It was established in 2018 after a 2-year-old doe tested positive for the disease in western Eau Claire County. The committee gathers public opinions and then studies the peer-reviewed statistics on CWD surveillance before making suggestions on how to handle the potential outbreak in western Wisconsin.  Bill Hogseth, a wildlife biologist with the DNR coordinating the CWD advisory team, said the sick doe discovered in Eau Claire County had a greater than usual impact on the surrounding area because the positive was along the far western edge.   “And it just so happened that six counties were affected by that one deer,” Hogseth said. “That’s a lot of counties to be affected by one CWD detection.”   Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration was wary of addressing CWD during his tenure out of fear for angering deer hunters. But CWD has been costly for deer farmers in recent years.