With the potential for chronic wasting disease to spread to the Upper Peninsula, hunter groups and other wildlife professionals are working cooperatively to protect the region’s deer population and hunting tradition.
“Should chronic wasting disease become established in the Upper Peninsula’s wild deer population, the deer herd and deer hunting could be negatively affected for decades to come,” said Terry Minzey, Upper Peninsula wildlife supervisor. “This isn’t as much about whether we will have deer to hunt, as it is about whether years from now our children and our grandchildren will have any deer to hunt.”
By April 1, the CWD task force hopes to reach a consensus recommendation on a response plan policy for the Upper Peninsula that can be sent to the DNR and Natural Resources Commission for consideration.
At an October 2016 meeting with the Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance, Michigan Natural Resources Commissioners J.R. Richardson of Ontonagon and Vicki Pontz of Lansing discussed engaging hunters in CWD education and advocacy efforts.
“It was clear a lot of folks had a lot of questions about CWD, didn’t know that we had a response plan in place and what measures would be required, should the plan need to be implemented,” said Stacy Welling Haughey, Upper Peninsula coordinator. “Hunters wanted to know how they could help us get the word out about the disease.”
The Upper Peninsula CWD Task Force which was created in November, with Richardson and Haughey leading the effort, includes representatives from several U.P. hunter groups.
“We have had three very proactive, informative and productive meetings,” said Richardson, task force chairman.
The DNR and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development crafted a plan in 2002 which directed several steps to be taken once an infected deer is located.
The Michigan Surveillance and Response Plan for Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-ranging Deer and Privately-Owned Facilities can be seen by clicking here.
Since May 2015, CWD has been confirmed in nine free-ranging Michigan deer – all in the Lower Peninsula – from within a 17-township CWD Core Area, covering portions of Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Shiawassee counties.
So far, more than 7,800 deer have been tested for CWD from the core area, 2,600 from the associated five-county CWD Management Zone and 1,917 from the remainder of the state, including 619 from the U.P. An educational outreach campaign launched in the fall of 2015 in the Upper Peninsula informed hunters and the general public about chronic wasting disease and its devastating impacts.
“Our ongoing campaign to ‘Keep the U.P. CWD Free’ has used billboards, bumper stickers, information flyers, media outreach and communication by, and among, hunter groups to help get the message out,” said John Pepin, DNR deputy public information officer. “One of the main messages has been trying to stop hunters from bringing deer and other game shot in CWD-infected states or Canadian provinces back to Michigan, where it could become the source of a new outbreak of the disease.”
Hunter groups in the U.P. have put a lot of work, interest and funding into the effort, creating their own radio spots (U.P. Whitetails Association), disseminating information and paying for educational materials.
“They have done a fantastic job and have made some significant contributions,” Haughey said.
George Lindquist, a statewide vice president for Michigan United Conservation Clubs and member of the task force, said he thinks it is a key objective that hunters learn the CWD facts and help to educate each other.
“I think it’s really important to educate the people of the Upper Peninsula on this,” Lindquist said. “We really need to let people know about not bringing their deer back from other states, and if we get this (disease) here what that will mean and what the consequences are.”
For more information on Michigan efforts to combat CWD, click here.