Kentucky Fish and Wildlife supports House bill to limit further spread of fatal deer, elk disease

FRANKFORT, Ky. – A bill filed earlier this month could help protect wild deer and elk from chronic wasting disease.

According to a release by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday, House Bill 700 filed by Rep. Josh Bray and co-sponsored by Rep. David Hale could immediately implement measures acknowledged by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies as necessary steps to protect wild deer and elk.

Officials say in 2019, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted a report on best management practices for prevention, surveillance and management of chronic wasting disease.

CWD is a neurodegenerative disease that can be found in deer and elk.

The movement of infected animals, whether through hunting or deer facilities, creates a risk of spreading the disease across greater areas.

Specifically, fish and wildlife officials say HB 700 “outlines the boundaries of a CWD Surveillance Zone. Officials say a surveillance zone will include any county within a 30-mile radius of a CWD detection.

In addition, when less than 10% of a county is within the 30-mile radius, that county would not be included in that surveillance zone, officials say.

The release states the surveillance zone designation would expire when there have been no CWD detections in the zone for five years.

Officials say the bill would also not allow movement of captive deer or deer relatives outside of a 10-mile radius from a captive facility that had a CWD detection. However, the bill does not prohibit interstate movement.

Exemptions have been added to allow the movement of deer parts and allow breeding of captive deer inside the facility in which the animal is housed, according to officials.

The bill now waits for assignment for a floor vote of the full House of Representatives.

The release also stated that “a committee substitute filed and adopted by the House Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee on Thursday, Feb. 27, declared the bill an emergency and added an exemption that would allow a captive deer farmer to build a secondary fence 10-feet inside the facility’s perimeter to serve as a buffer between wild deer and the captive herd. If that secondary fence is built before a CWD detection within 10 miles of the facility, the operator could export captive cervids to other facilities within the state.”

For the latest information on CWD, click here.