By Brent Miller, Senior Director, Northeastern States
On May 16, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Department of Agriculture and Markets announced that the state had finalized the New York State Interagency Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Risk Minimization Plan.
The Plan includes recommended regulatory changes designed to protect both farmed and wild cervids and focuses largely on regulating the movement of potentially CWD infected materials.
The three main goals of the Plan are to:
1) Keep infectious material and animals out of New York to prevent new introductions.
2) Prevent exposure of infectious material to CWD-susceptible species in New York if CWD is present and undetected.
3) Provide education to increase the public understanding of CWD risks and impact on deer health.
“I applaud DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos and Ag & Markets Commissioner Richard Ball for their continued efforts to prevent the spread of CWD in New York. To date, we are the only state to have stopped the spread of CWD after discovering it in wild populations,” said Assemblyman Clifford W. Crouch, Co-Chair of the bipartisan and bicameral New York Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
