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Proposal |
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Proposal |
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Whether you hunt or not, all Wisconsin residents and visitors have a stake in solving this complex CWD riddle. The stakeholders most closely tied to whitetails -- hunters, tourism, agriculture, business, as well as others who eat venison -- are hoping for fast answers. One of the most widely held hopes is that every hunter wishing to have his or her deer tested for the disease could do so. This just isn’t possible at this time, according to wildlife health officials at the federal and state levels.
But an ambitious plan to test 40,000 to 50,000 hunter-harvested deer for chronic wasting disease this fall will more completely answer where the disease exists in Wisconsin. And more importantly, where it doesn’t. The expansive sampling plan will determine with a high degree of assurance the presence or absence of the disease for every county in the state.
• To more precisely locate the spread of the disease:
o Larger test samples are needed per year (40,000-50,000)
o Provide more testing sites
• To help control the spread of the disease:
o Limit deer imports from other states to Wisconsin
o Lower price on all deer permits, more people will be likely to hunt
o Extend deer hunting seasons in CWD areas
o Allow more doe permits throughout state, free of charge to hunters
o Allow special permits to kill deer showing obvious CWD symptoms
o Allocate more federal and state funding in researching a cure
o Prohibit baiting of deer for personal pleasure and hunting purposes