Chronic wasting disease is an always-fatal disease of deer and other cervids.
Maybe it’s the three little pigs theory of disease management.
You know, the first little pig went into the woods and built a house of straw because it would be quick and leave plenty of time for playing. So, too, with the second pig and the house of sticks he built.
The third pig, though, took his time, built a strong foundation, and ended up with a house of brick that the big bad wolf couldn’t blow down.
Some within the Pennsylvania Game Commission would tell you they’re taking the third pig approach to dealing with chronic wasting disease.
The issue came up after one Game Commission board member expressed some frustration with the agency’s actions – or lack thereof – on the CWD front.
Wayne Laroche, the commission’s special assistant for CWD response, was talking about wasting disease at a working group meeting. He mentioned that while there are “lots of moving parts” to dealing with the disease, he remains somewhat optimistic.
CWD, as the always-fatal ailment of deer and other cervids is know, remains confined to a few sports in the wild in Pennsylvania, he said. It’s not yet a statewide issue.
“I still feel, looking at the distribution in the state, that we have a chance of doing something about this,” Laroche said.
That prompted a question from board president Brian Hoover of Chester County.
“We say we have the opportunity to do something about it. What have we done?” he asked.
Lay groundwork more than anything, Laroche said.
“We’ve monitored and we’ve surveilled. We haven’t taken action yet, and that’s what we’re gearing up for right now,” Laroche said.
The commission is talking to property owners to get permission to cull deer on their lands. It’s negotiating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to do the shooting. It’s getting gear and training to each of its region offices, all while working with Penn State to set up a research project looking at where GPS-collared deer that escapes targeted shooting efforts go.
“These are the baby steps that will lead to what needs to be a long-term, systematic, controlled program for the state. And we have to build that,” Laroche said.
Those things are no doubt important, Hoover admitted. But, he added, it seems as if things are moving too slow.
He pointed to one example.
For the past three to four years, he said, he commission has talked of having a “rapid response team” of shooters that could go out whenever a CWD-positive deer turned up on the landscape. Its job would be to go out to those spots and immediately remove family groups of deer.
Yet, Hoover said, no such team yet exists.
“And I don’t want to see inaction any more. And I don’t think any of the other commissioners want to see inaction,” Hoover said.
Commission executive director Bryan Burhans said he understands the need for urgency.
But he added, the commission needs to learn from what’s gone on in other states, too. He pointed to Wisconsin.
When chronic wasting disease showed up there, he said, the Department of Natural Resources acted aggressively, moving to shoot lots of deer – taking the so-called “nuclear option” – without first taking the time to “work the public” and get buy-in. The political pushback was swift and strong.
“And they’re dead in the water as they sit now,” Burhans said.
The commission doesn’t want to make that mistake, he added. So it’s been investing a lot of time in getting support for its action from hunters, lawmakers and the media.
“I think it’s important to note there are a lot of behind-the-scenes things that don’t seem like action. But if we didn’t take these actions, we would probably fail as an agency,” Burhans said.
Hoover said he hopes the commission can get more support, especially financial, from lawmakers.
To date, the commission has been spending about $1 million annually on chronic wasting disease, Burhans said earlier. He expects that to at least double in the coming year.
That’s a stress on the agency, Hoover said.
“We’re talking about spending a tremendous amount of money. And as we go forward, this things is going to take more and more of our budget,” Hoover said.
Commissioner Dave Putnam of Centre County said staff must do anything it can to deal with the disease.
“I think you have the full support of the commissioners to take an aggressive tack on this,” Putnam said.
Burhans said the agency plans to do all that it can. But there will be no short or easy foxes, he said.
“This is something we’re going to be dealing with for the rest of our careers. And the next people beyond us,” Burhans said.
“So this is going to be an ongoing activity that’s just never going to go away.”
Chronic wasting disease and DMAP
All of those deer management assistance program permits the Pennsylvania Game Commission is making available because of chronic wasting disease?
They have value, said Bryan Burhans, executive director for the commission. They’re a good surveillance tool and might help the commission identify where wasting disease is and isn’t, he said.
But they have limitations, too, added Wayne Laroche, special assistant for CWD response for the commission.
“We don’t want anybody to think these DMAP permits are going to make a difference to CWD,” he said.
They won’t stop the spread of the disease or wipe it out, he added. That kind of thing can only happen – potentially – by using sharpshooters to take out entire family groups of deer.
The commission hopes to do some of that his winter. But there are lots of details to work out first, Laroche said.
For starters, there’s the issue of getting dead deer out of the woods.
U.S. Department of Agriculture shooters can kill deer, he said. But they typically work in teams of three of four.
It’s tough for a crew of that size to get as many as 100 deer out of the field in a timely manner, he noted.
Then there’s the question of what to do with them from there.
The commission will test each deer. Any that show up as CWD positive will be disposed of. Others, though, are typically donated to food banks.
First, though, the commission needs to get a refrigerated trailer to be able to store deer until testing is complete. Laroche said he’s working on that now.
