The Boone and Crockett Club today affirmed its commitment to fighting Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) by supporting recently introduced House legislation HR 837. Congressman Ralph Abraham (R-LA) has introduced the Chronic Wasting Disease Transmission in Cervidae Study Act (HR 837) in the House. If passed, the bill would pave the way for more scientific information to combat this always-fatal disease afflicting deer, elk and moose in now 26 states, three Canadian provinces, Norway, and South Korea.
“The Club committed to a three-part strategy in 2017 to address CWD,” said James L. Cummins, co-chairman of the Boone and Crockett Club’s Conservation Policy Committee. “We are promoting state policies to control the spread of the disease. In support of that, we support research such as that promoted by HR 837. The third part is education.”
The Club recently released a statement recommending a halt to all human-assisted transportation of live deer and elk as the best way to prevent CWD introduction and establishment until a reliable live animal test can be found.
The Club has committed $50,000 per year as seed money for CWD research targeted at identifying a certifiable live test. This money has been matched by outside sources for the last two years.
To educate sportsmen, farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders, the Club in 2002 with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, and the Wildlife Management Institute established the CWD Alliance (http://cwd-info.org) to disseminate news and updates about CWD.
Cummins said, “Our legislative leaders have been briefed on the facts and the threat and are taking action. We support Congressman Abraham and encourage others to get behind HR 837. Getting ahead of and not always playing from behind is the only way we’re going to get a handle on this disease, which is threatening one of our most valuable economic engines for conservation – healthy populations of deer and elk.”
To get the facts about CWD, visit the CWD Alliance website www.cwd-info.org.
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