MADISON - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has confirmed that two wild deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in western Eau Claire County, in the towns of Brunswick and Drammen following fall surveillance efforts conducted by the DNR in conjunctions with hunters and landowners
As required by law, this will renew Eau Claire County's existing three-year baiting and feeding ban. Additionally, these positives will renew the two-year baiting and feeding bans for Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin and Trempealeau counties.
Both CWD-positive deer were mature bucks harvested during the 2018 gun deer season and tested as part of disease surveillance efforts. These are Eau Claire County's second and third CWD-positive wild deer.
"These deer were detected as part of the DNR's disease surveillance efforts in west-central Wisconsin," said Eric Lobner, DNR Bureau Director for the Wildlife Management program. "We are committed to working closely with local communities, including the citizen-based Chippewa Valley CWD Advisory Team and the County Deer Advisory Councils in each of the six counties as we explore future management options for this disease in Eau Claire and surrounding counties."
In response to the detection of these CWD positive deer, the department will take the following steps:
- Continue to work with local Chippewa Valley CWD Advisory Team as well as County Deer Advisory Council members from the counties impacted by this detection.
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Continue surveillance activities to assess disease distribution and prevalence including:
- Encourage reporting of sick deer
- Sample vehicle-killed adult deer
- Sample adult deer harvested under agricultural damage permits
- Sample adult deer harvested under urban deer hunts in the area
- Continue to establish CWD sampling locations during the 2019 deer seasons
DNR staff and Wisconsin Conservation Congress members will host a public meeting to discuss CWD testing and surveillance. The meeting will take place Wednesday, February 27th at 7 p.m. at the Rock Creek Town Hall on County HWY H in Rock Falls.
As has been demonstrated in the past in other parts of the state, local citizen involvement in the decision-making process as well as management actions to address this CWD detection will have the greatest potential for success.
For more information regarding baiting and feeding regulations and CWD in Wisconsin, and how to have adult deer tested during the hunting seasons, visit the department's website, dnr.wi.gov , and search " bait and feeding " and " CWD sampling " respectively. To report a sick deer on the landscape, search keywords " sick deer " or contact a local wildlife biologist.