Back in February, we asked Wisconsin members and supporters to ask their lawmakers oppose Senate Bill 30 (SB 30) and Assembly companion AB 34. These bills would remove requirements for implementation of deer baiting restrictions in any county where a positive test for chronic wasting disease (CWD) or bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been confirmed in any captive deer but not wild deer. Currently, deer baiting prohibitions are put into effect if a wild or captive deer tests positive for either disease.
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AB 34 was recently heard by the Assembly’s Sporting Heritage Committee, and the bill is set to receive a vote by that committee on Wednesday, November 15. We’re again asking our Wisconsin members to please consider joining the National Deer Association (NDA) in opposing this bill. AB 34 would allow deer baiting to continue in a county after a positive detection of CWD or bovine TB has been found in a captive herd in that county. CLICK HERE to ask the Sporting Heritage Committee to oppose AB 34.
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Current Wisconsin law states requires a three-year baiting ban in any county that detects CWD or bovine TB in a wild or captive deer. Current law also prohibits baiting for two years in any county within a 10-mile radius of a positive detection. AB 34 would preclude captive detections from those restrictions. The bill unnecessarily places Wisconsin’s wild deer at risk of CWD and bovine TB by loosening baiting restrictions in known disease areas.
The NDA is dedicated to ensuring the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting, and AB 34 directly and unnecessarily place all three at risk. The NDA will not work to actively repeal baiting where currently legal, except where CWD (or other known diseases, such as bovine TB) is present, and this bill would allow for the continuation of baiting in areas where disease presence is known in captive deer herds.