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DNR Meeting in NE Iowa

jjohnson

jjohnson

Well-Known Member
[FONT=ARIAL, SANS SERIF]DNR to hold public meeting on recent efforts to prevent CWD[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]A public meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 1 in Waukon to discuss recent efforts to prevent chronic wasting disease and other livestock-related diseases in Allamakee County. The meeting is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at the Waukon Banquet Center, 612 Rossville Road in Waukon, and will feature Dr. Dale Garner, chief of the wildlife bureau for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Dr. David Schmitt, state veterinarian for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS).
The meeting will be an opportunity for the public to hear concerns regarding the threat of disease to both wildlife and domestic livestock as well as to ask questions.

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This meeting is a good opportunity to learn about the Iowa DNR's approach. I posted a very good article relative to CWD that touched on other States approaches and recent results on the "CWD real world" thread.
 
Wait wait wait wait a minute. Waukon has a "banquete center"? Whadthey do, chase the cows outta the barn and shovel out the manure?
 
Attended the meeting tonight. I guess I didn't really learn much. It basically was the DNR's way of letting us know why they killed the elk. They preached about being proactive and preventing CWD from spreading to Iowa. Yet never explained how to prevent it. It seems to me they wait until a CWD case is found close to our border and then they step up testing close to the bordering areas and see if it has spread here. Next year they will be testing a lot south of the cases in MN.

Most cases seem to be in or around high fences. Yet high fence opporations in Iowa have VOLUNTARY CWD testing. If you are not selling the animals or transporting them. You do not have to have them tested. We asked why this wasn't mandatory and they explained that it isn't part of Iowa law and even if it was money would be an issue.

He also touched on the feeding ban and that he has been trying to get this passed for a few years. Strictly to prevent CWD.

To me it seems odd that they wouldn't be cracking down on head mounts being brought across the border to taxidermists. This would be an extremely easy way to get it to spread. Especially when a taxidermist is dealing with the brain and spinal cord. Also CWD is seen more in mature deer and in bucks.

They talked about the money the state makes on wildlife ect and the money other states (WI, IL, MN) have spent trying to get rid of it. I would think they would be doing everything in their power to protect their investment. But it just seems they are waiting for it to show up and then all hell will break loose.
 
I also attended and agree that more testing could be done on these private enclosures and better initial testing and background information is needed. Legislation needs to tighten up on this aspect, which may save millions down the road when CWD does make it here.
I am still not on the same page with erratication efforts in areas! Kill thousands to find 4 positive cases... I guess we just all pray they can come up with some alternative testing.

As far as the bait stations? The only point is made that baiting or food plotting groups the animals and speeds the interaction of a disease. I disagree!
If it is not a mineral lick or bait station; deer have enough instinct to group together at whatever food source is ripe and most available. They will congregate on whichever foods source best fits their needs, group together for safety, group together in wintering areas, and get pushed together where hunting pressure is low. The local DNR himeslf told me the late doe season was to have the opportunity to harvest deer that typically reside on private and protected (from hunting) land. In January they may have the opportunity to cut these herds on neighboring areas.

He went on to say that the budgeting issue and deer herd numbers should be in check and we can eliminate some of these rediculous seasons.
 
I also attended the meeting last night. What I came away with was that doing nothing after cases are detected is not a good idea. Wyoming did that and now the rate of infection is over 50% in some areas. The rationale behind killing a lot of deer in the outbreak area is too keep the spreading and incidence of prions low while also testing to see how many are infected. Even though I hate it, I can't see any other option. The taxidermy question is already addressed I believe. It is illegal to transport anything but a clean skull from CWD positive areas. Enforcement is another issue though. You can't search every vehicle crossing the bridge. They believe Wisconsin had CWD for up to 15-20 yrs. before it was detected. That's why it's so entrenched there. Infected deer were walking around spreading it for a long time. Now there's a lot of it in the soil also. After hearing Garner speak, I understand why the IBA board voted to support the baiting ban. He is passionate about doing whatever possible to stop CWD. I'm glad he's on our side and I commend him for taking a hard, unpopular stance. The argument that CWD has always been here and to let it run it's course doesn't appear to hold water. What's happening out west bears that out. It just get's worse and worse. As far as the elk they're shooting, I believe they should be shot and tested. Elk restoration projects in other states started with elk from tested, CWD free areas. No one knows where these elk came from. For all we know, some farmer that hates deer brought them here to TRY and spread CWD and get all the deer shot. That's out there a long ways but anything's possible and there are lots of elk out there from non-tested herds. There are more questions than answers about CWD and the impression I got was that once it's here, we're screwed.
 
I agree with everything you said turkeyriver. I wasn't aware of the taxidermy regs. Let's just hope it never shows up here...
 
jjohnson said:
I agree with everything you said turkeyriver. I wasn't aware of the taxidermy regs. Let's just hope it never shows up here...
Click to expand...

As long as they do not have the loop holes in the bill I am all for it.

Need to make sure it is all or nothing IMO.
 
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