Fences seen as solution for deadly deer disease

DES MOINES | To reduce the threat of Chronic Wasting Disease being transmitted in Iowas deer herd, legislation has been introduced to require double fencing of deer farms and shooting preserves where white-tail deer are kept.

Senate File 59, recently introduced by Senate Natural Resources Committee Chairman Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, would increase the height requirement for fences around deer farms and preserves from 8 feet to 10 feet and add a requirement for 10-foot secondary fence. He wants to make sure the captive deer are kept in as well as prevent transmission of the disease by nose-to-nose contact between the captive deer and wild deer.

Dale Garner, Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife bureau chief, said the double-fencing would help.

Its easy for me to recommend that because I dont have to pay for it, he said after briefing the House Natural Resources Committee on Chronic Wasting Disease.

Dearden isnt worried about the cost of the fences as much as the cost of the disease in the wild deer herd.

Look at the cost to the Iowa economy if thediseasespread into the wild deer herd, he said. How expensive would it be if we lost our (wild) herd?

The DNR says deer hunting annually generates $137 million, has a $214 million economic impact and supports 2,838 jobs in Iowa. It also generates $15 million in federal tax revenue and another $14.7 million in state taxes, the department said.

In Wisconsin, Garner said, the lethal neurological disease has reduced deer numbers by 40 percent, Garner said.

The DNR spends more than $300,000 a year testing deer carcasses for Chronic Wasting Disease. There is no live test. Dearden said 42,000 tests of wild deer have not found one case of the disease. In tests of 4,000 captive deer, 17 returned positive.

Although fences will help reduce the risk of spreading Chronic Wasting Diseaseto the wild herd, there are no easy answers, Garner said.

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Fences seen as solution for deadly deer disease