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Sportsman Outdoors

Testing for CWD is costly!

Jack Danchak
Posted 7/1/22

The Pennsylvania Game Commission spent an average of $2.5 million per year in expenditures for combating Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from fiscal year 2018 to 2020, stated Kip Adams, the chief …

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Sportsman Outdoors

Testing for CWD is costly!

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The Pennsylvania Game Commission spent an average of $2.5 million per year in expenditures for combating Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from fiscal year 2018 to 2020, stated Kip Adams, the chief conservation officer. In the last five years, Pennsylvania has spent over $10.3 million on CWD efforts.

Those enormous expenditures include staff salaries, sample collection and testing, deer carcass disposal, testing supplies, staff time, gas and mileage expense, CWD education and much more.

Pennsylvania is exceeded only by the states of Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Missouri spent over $3.5 million in 2021 on its CWD efforts, Wisconsin spent upwards of $3 million and Minnesota spent $2.8 million. And adding to the list of states that are trying to stop the spreading of CWD are: Michigan, which spent $1.5 million, and Texas, which spent $2.1 million.

Adams said, “Here in Pennsylvania, we spend so much for a combination of reasons: 1. We have a lot of deer farms, five of our seven disease management areas are a result of a CWD positive captive deer.”

“The 2nd reason is that hunting is so important to our state, fortunately the Game Commission takes an aggressive approach to safeguarding our future deer herd and hunting opportunities.”

The exorbitant cost of fighting CWD were included in Adams recent posts on the website of the National Deer Association, which stated that CWD drains deer dollars, it doesn’t generate them.

Adams goes on to say, one of the most common conspiracy theories among CWD deniers claims this fatal deer disease is a money making scheme by state wildlife agencies. This is among the most laughable of claims, because rather than generating magic funds, CWD is an enormous strain on the existing budgets of state wildlife agencies.

A Bear Visits State Capitol

A black bear visited Albany, climbed a tree several blocks from the state Capitol and rested about 30 feet up the tree. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation technicians arrived and tranquilized the bear and caught it in the net. The DEC crew used a fire department ladder truck to get in close to immobilize the bear. The bear was later realized in the Catskills forest.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

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