New area of CWD-positive

[Lee Borgersen]

New CWD-positive wild deer found outside southeastern Minnesota range where it had only been found before.

  Audio Report at .......

https://www.outdoornews.com/2019/02/26/your-daily-minnesota-outdoor-news-update-feb-26-2019/

[Rebel SS]

Last week, the Fillmore County Board didn’t just refuse the Minnesota DNR’s request to allow federal sharpshooters to kill deer on county-owned land near the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery. The board also told the DNR to stop asking.

Their resolution stated there was “no reason for the DNR to attend a future meeting” of the county board.

On Tuesday, the board reversed that position and authorized sharpshooters to work near the cemetery — but not on it — as part of the ongoing effort to eliminate or at least slow the spread of chronic wasting disease.


Despite the board’s earlier “unvitation,” DNR conservation officer Mitch Boyum attended Tuesday’s meeting and explained that more than half of the CWD-positive deer found in southeastern Minnesota have been killed within one mile of the veterans cemetery.

“It would be different if we were talking five miles away, six miles away, but we’re not,” Boyum said. “We’re talking right here in the heart of ground zero of the disease. It’s pretty concerning to the wildlife health folks, so we ask you to reconsider your decision.”

Recent helicopter surveys of the area revealed a herd of more than 100 deer that until now has been largely inaccessible to both recreational hunters and federal sharpshooters.

Concerned citizen Bonita Underbakke said Fillmore County can’t afford to simply pretend the problem will go away on its own.

“It makes sense that Minnesota does not allow discharge of firearms upon or over grounds of any public or private cemetery,” she told the board. “But it also makes sense to consider the predictable result of transforming our veterans cemetery into a preserve for diseased deer to multiply and spread CWD.”

Also speaking during the public comment period was John Zanmiller, a member of Bluffland Whitetails Association who emphasized that deer hunting has a huge impact on Fillmore County’s economy.

“There’s a lot of orange that comes over that hill in early November every year,” he said. “If CWD continues to grow without aggressive action, we’ll see impact at our hotels, our taxidermy shops, our sporting goods shops and even our diners.”

He also pointed out the county’s tax base could suffer if the disease continues to spread, stating recreational property declines in value by 15 percent in CWD-infected areas.

“If a large class of property in your county loses 15 percent of its value, that translates into a real amount of revenue from tax-assessed properties,” Zanmiller said. “That’s going to have to be reallocated to other people, entities and properties.”

Board chairman Duane Bakke came to the meeting with a resolution in hand, ready to reverse the previous week’s decision. He also told the board and spectators he had communicated with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, which gave the board the green light to do whatever is necessary on and around the cemetery.

                                                     

[Dotch]

 

[delcecchi]

Hey Hey Ho Ho All the deer farms got to go.
Hey Hey Ho Ho All the deer farms got to go.

[Rebel SS]

Deer farms and petting zoos are fun.   

[Rebel SS]

Gee, lookee this................surprise! 


https://kttc.com/news/minnesota-news/2019/03/20/researchers-concerned-about-cwd-spread-to-humans/

[glenn57]

when Osterholm was the head of the CDC or whatever office he held I thought he was pretty done good. since he'd been at the U I think he turned into a  dooofus.

[Rebel SS]

Mayo got to him.....   Someone better get it together on this, or there's gonna be a whole lotta shakin' goin' down....and it isn't going to be good. They'll find out it'll take hold just like rabies, and then we'll be living a real-life horror movie. Maybe that zombie crap everyone yaps about.

[mike89]

when Osterholm was the head of the CDC or whatever office he held I thought he was pretty done good. since he'd been at the U I think he turned into a  dooofus.

I thought he was at the CDC?? 

[Rebel SS]

He is/does...out of the U of M...

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/about-us/cidrap-staff/michael-t-osterholm-phd-mph

I can see it heading to a complete ban on game farms and ANY transport.

[mike89]

ok thanks!!!