Multidigits
10-20-2002, 10:43 AM
In case you don't get the CJ:
Importation ban seen as step against CWD
By Gary Garth
Officials from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are prepared to push for a legislative change that would permanently prohibit transporting deer, elk and other cervids into the state.
Such a ban is seen as the best way to protect Kentucky's deer and elk herds from chronic wasting disease, a deadly neurological disorder.
''We feel that it is our responsibility to do everything we can to keep (CWD) from spreading to Kentucky,'' said Jonathan Day, who oversees the state's deer and elk programs.
Chronic wasting disease, part of the family of spongiform encephalopathies that includes mad cow disease, is always fatal to deer and elk, although there is no evidence that it affects humans or cattle. There is no live animal test for CWD, and no vaccine is available. Day said researchers believe the disease has an incubation period of up to five years.
CWD was discovered in the 1960s in a captive deer herd in Colorado, but it wasn't identified until 1980. It has spread to deer and elk in several Western states. Researchers think that in most cases it is transmitted through captive elk and deer herds, but wild animals have been infected.
Last year Wisconsin officials confirmed some of that state's deer had died from the disease, the first known CWD cases east of the Mississippi River. The disease recently was discovered in a captive deer herd in Minnesota.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials have been randomly testing deer and elk and are convinced the state is free of CWD. They are determined to keep it that way.
Day acknowledged that a cervid importation ban would be a drastic measure that would affect some hunting preserves and commercial elk and deer ranching operations. Offsetting that, he said, would be protection of the state's multimilliondollar hunting industry.
The Fish and Wildlife Department sold 125 captive cervid permits last year. The $100 permits are required for anyone transporting elk or deer into the state. That includes commercial ranchers, hunting preserve operators and individuals who wish to keep imported deer or elk as pets.
Kentucky has six licensed shooting preserves that offer deer or elk hunting. Dr. Jon Gassett, director of the department's wildlife division, estimates there also are 30-40 commercial deer and elk ranches that import animals.
An importation ban wouldn't be unprecedented. State officials imposed one from August 2001 to July 2002 while regulations governing deer and elk importation were being tightened.
There are several ways a ban could be implemented. Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Tom Bennett has the authority to issue an emergency moratorium that could remain in effect throughout his tenure. A one-year ban could be ordered by the governor. Or the nine-member Fish and Wildlife Commission could establish a ban through a regulation change.
However, department officials would like to see a ban enacted by the General Assembly, preferably fueled by public support. This would be more likely to result in a permanent ban and ease political pressure both on the commission and on the Department of Agriculture, which jointly oversees the state's captive deer and elk industry with the Fish and Wildlife Department.
As it stands now, deer and elk brought into Kentucky are subject to extensive testing and monitoring. No animal may be brought from a state where CWD has been found.
''The current regulations are very good, but they don't do everything to prevent chronic wasting disease from spreading into Kentucky,'' Day said.
Third District Commissioner Allen Gailor, whose district includes Jefferson County, agrees but stops short of endorsing a permanent ban.
''Permanent is a long time,'' he said. ''But my personal viewpoint is that at this point we would be better off not to allow any (cervid) importation because of chronic wasting disease. All it's going to take to hurt us is for one person to make a mistake or flout the law by bringing in a (diseased) animal.''
A CWD outbreak in Kentucky almost certainly would cripple the state's deer hunting industry. Roughly 270,000 people hunt deer in Kentucky each fall, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the sport pumps more than $230 million into the state's economy annually.
Deer tag sales in Wisconsin have dropped 30 percent since the disease was found, and officials project a $12 million price tag on their fight to eliminate it.
Kentucky officials don't want to face the same battles.
''We can't afford to lose our hunters,'' Gassett said.
Importation ban seen as step against CWD
By Gary Garth
Officials from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are prepared to push for a legislative change that would permanently prohibit transporting deer, elk and other cervids into the state.
Such a ban is seen as the best way to protect Kentucky's deer and elk herds from chronic wasting disease, a deadly neurological disorder.
''We feel that it is our responsibility to do everything we can to keep (CWD) from spreading to Kentucky,'' said Jonathan Day, who oversees the state's deer and elk programs.
Chronic wasting disease, part of the family of spongiform encephalopathies that includes mad cow disease, is always fatal to deer and elk, although there is no evidence that it affects humans or cattle. There is no live animal test for CWD, and no vaccine is available. Day said researchers believe the disease has an incubation period of up to five years.
CWD was discovered in the 1960s in a captive deer herd in Colorado, but it wasn't identified until 1980. It has spread to deer and elk in several Western states. Researchers think that in most cases it is transmitted through captive elk and deer herds, but wild animals have been infected.
Last year Wisconsin officials confirmed some of that state's deer had died from the disease, the first known CWD cases east of the Mississippi River. The disease recently was discovered in a captive deer herd in Minnesota.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials have been randomly testing deer and elk and are convinced the state is free of CWD. They are determined to keep it that way.
Day acknowledged that a cervid importation ban would be a drastic measure that would affect some hunting preserves and commercial elk and deer ranching operations. Offsetting that, he said, would be protection of the state's multimilliondollar hunting industry.
The Fish and Wildlife Department sold 125 captive cervid permits last year. The $100 permits are required for anyone transporting elk or deer into the state. That includes commercial ranchers, hunting preserve operators and individuals who wish to keep imported deer or elk as pets.
Kentucky has six licensed shooting preserves that offer deer or elk hunting. Dr. Jon Gassett, director of the department's wildlife division, estimates there also are 30-40 commercial deer and elk ranches that import animals.
An importation ban wouldn't be unprecedented. State officials imposed one from August 2001 to July 2002 while regulations governing deer and elk importation were being tightened.
There are several ways a ban could be implemented. Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Tom Bennett has the authority to issue an emergency moratorium that could remain in effect throughout his tenure. A one-year ban could be ordered by the governor. Or the nine-member Fish and Wildlife Commission could establish a ban through a regulation change.
However, department officials would like to see a ban enacted by the General Assembly, preferably fueled by public support. This would be more likely to result in a permanent ban and ease political pressure both on the commission and on the Department of Agriculture, which jointly oversees the state's captive deer and elk industry with the Fish and Wildlife Department.
As it stands now, deer and elk brought into Kentucky are subject to extensive testing and monitoring. No animal may be brought from a state where CWD has been found.
''The current regulations are very good, but they don't do everything to prevent chronic wasting disease from spreading into Kentucky,'' Day said.
Third District Commissioner Allen Gailor, whose district includes Jefferson County, agrees but stops short of endorsing a permanent ban.
''Permanent is a long time,'' he said. ''But my personal viewpoint is that at this point we would be better off not to allow any (cervid) importation because of chronic wasting disease. All it's going to take to hurt us is for one person to make a mistake or flout the law by bringing in a (diseased) animal.''
A CWD outbreak in Kentucky almost certainly would cripple the state's deer hunting industry. Roughly 270,000 people hunt deer in Kentucky each fall, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the sport pumps more than $230 million into the state's economy annually.
Deer tag sales in Wisconsin have dropped 30 percent since the disease was found, and officials project a $12 million price tag on their fight to eliminate it.
Kentucky officials don't want to face the same battles.
''We can't afford to lose our hunters,'' Gassett said.