TPW Commission tables five CWD proposals, public comments abundant

Texas Parks and Wildlife’s public comment page was abuzz ahead of the TPW Commission’s regulatory meeting earlier this month. Not surprisingly, the hot potato on the menu was a lengthy list of proposed amendments to rules governing chronic wasting disease (CWD) detection, response, and management, and deer breeder permits. Item 5 on meeting agenda indicates the proposed amendments were “intended to function collectively to refine surveillance and investigation efforts as part of the agency’s effort to manage CWD.”

Alan Cain, TPWD’s big game program leader, said agency’s wildlife division fielded nearly 4,300 public comments pertaining to the list of 11 CWD proposals. Cain has been with the department for going on on 24 years. He can’t recall any wildlife-related agenda item ever getting as much play during a designated public comment period leading up to Commission meeting.

The proposed amendments included: * Require ante-mortem (live-animal) testing of test-eligible deer prior to transfer from a breeding facility to another breeding facility.

* Reproduce the statutory provisions governing the required permanent identification tags on breeder deer.

* Provide for the transport of deer carcasses from CWD management zones to a final destination or taxidermist, provided a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)-issued check station receipt has been obtained.

* Impose statewide carcass disposal measures.

* Eliminate provisions allowing deer breeders to transfer fawns to external facilities for nursing purposes.

* Impose a residency requirement on breeder deer as a condition of transfer to another breeding facility or to a release site.

* Impose a seven-day deadline for submission of CWD test samples for Trap, Transport and Process permits.

* Prohibit the release of breeder deer prior to April 1 of the year following birth.

* Remove the three-year sunset of provisions governing the ante-mortem testing of breeder deer prior to release.

* Strengthen provisions governing the obligations of release-site owners in the event a release site becomes epidemiologically linked to a CWD-positive deer breeding facility.

* Provide for the suspension of Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) privileges for landowners who fail to comply with harvest, testing, and recordkeeping requirements at release sites epidemiologically linked to a CWD-positive deer breeding facility.

Majority Speaks Against

Cain says the majority of the public commenters (65 percent), including many of the 50-plus people who signed up to address the Commission in person, spoke in opposition to the proposal package.

The biologist added that 32 percent of the comments supported of the proposals; three percent were in opposition to specific parts.

Cain said the common reasons for stated by those in disagreement with the proposals was primarily overregulation and government overreach as well as the potential negative impacts on small businesses, ranches and deer hunting.

Commissioners took the feedback into consideration before adopting seven of the proposals and tabling five others pending further scientific investigation by staff and discussion of any new findings, Cain said.

The five proposals that were tabled include: * Requiring permanent identification tags on breeder deer.

* Prohibition on the release of breeder deer prior to April 1 of the year following birth (related to ID requirements).

* 6-month residency requirement as a condition of transfer (movement) of breeder deer.

* Rules related to statewide carcass disposal.

* Removal of a whole carcass from a CWD zone after receiving a TPWD check station receipt as long as unused parts are disposed of according to statewide carcass proposal rules.

“Based on the comments and just talking to folks I think there was probably some confusion on what hunters would and would not be able to do with unused carcass parts as it relates to the statewide carcass disposal rules,” Cain said. “We had a number of comments wanting to be able to debone a carcass without needing to maintain and fill out a cold storage record book at the property of harvest. We will continue to review a statewide carcass disposal option that provides flexibility for proper carcass disposal to mitigate disease risks and would also be helpful for hunters in CWD zones that don’t currently have an option to take a whole carcass to a processor or take back to their house to process.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes CWD as a “prion disease that that affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose. It has been found in some areas of North America, including Canada and the United States, Norway and South Korea. It may take over a year before an infected animal develops symptoms, which can include drastic weight loss, stumbling, listlessness and other neurologic symptoms. CWD can affect animals of all ages and some infected animals may die without ever developing the disease. CWD is fatal to animals and there are no treatments or vaccines.”

According to TPWD, the disease was first found in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado. As of May 30, CWD has been documented in captive and free-ranging deer in 30 states and in Canada. The first case of CWD in Texas was discovered in 2012 in a free-ranging mule deer in West Texas and in a captive white-tailed deer in 2015.

TPWD says hundreds of Texas have been confirmed in captive and free-ranging deer since the initial discovery here in 2012. Most of the cases are tied to breeding facilities and release sites. The most recent case involving a free-ranging deer was was reported in May in Bexar County at Hollywood Park near San Antonio. ----- Matt Williams is a freelance writer based on Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.