2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

AUTHORS: Catherine Cummings, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach & Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Adam Janke, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach; Tyler Harms, Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Jace Elliott, Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Rachel Ruden, Iowa Department of Natural Resources & Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

ABSTRACT: As Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) continues to pose a significant threat to Iowa’s white–tailed deer populations, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach are committed to developing innovative outreach programs to enhance awareness and foster collaboration. With an increasing number of counties detecting CWD, our efforts focus on educating hunters, landowners, and the public on best practices for hunting and processing, while actively involving them in disease management. Key initiatives include 1) the Chronic Wasting Disease Ambassador Program, which empowers local stakeholders to serve as educators within their communities; 2) public meetings that facilitate direct communication between DNR staff, hunters, and landowners; 3) the integration of CWD education into youth and adult hunter education programs; 4) the development of county CWD resource guides tailored to each county; and 5) CWD incentive hunts in core disease hotspots to provide hunters with landowner access for additional deer harvest in the late season. Through these initiatives, the Iowa DNR and ISU Extension aim to not only share critical information, but also inspire proactive community participation in managing the spread of CWD. By fostering open dialogue and collaborative engagement, we seek to create a well-informed, adaptive, and responsive network of Iowans–hunters, landowners, and conservationists–equipped to tackle the challenges of CWD and contribute to the disease’s long-term management.

AUTHORS: Jason Isabelle, Missouri Department of Conservation; Jasmine Batten, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Phil Seng, DJ Case & Associates; Matt Harlow, DJ Case & Associates; Rachel Menale, DJ Case & Associates


ABSTRACT: Since first detecting chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the free-ranging white-tailed deer population in 2012, the Missouri Department of Conservation has implemented targeted removal to slow disease spread. Targeted removal is one of few interventions with evidence of efficacy yet is often met with resistance and lack of stakeholder support. As such, identifying the motivations and barriers of landowners to participating in targeted removal is key to addressing participation deficiencies and fostering landowner engagement in CWD management. We conducted 12 focus group meetings in Missouri during 2022 with landowners who owned property near where CWD has been detected. Motivations for participating in targeted removal included a sense of civic responsibility to people and/or the deer population, additional hunting opportunity, food, convenience of the removal program, and positive feelings about contributing to CWD management. Barriers or deterrents to participation included misunderstanding about CWD and the objectives of targeted removal, perception of low deer density, reluctance to relinquish what landowners felt was management control of their land during targeted removal, distain for targeted removal methods (e.g., night shooting, baiting), and objections about when targeted removal occurred (i.e., winter, after deer season). Landowner participation in targeted removal could likely be increased by communicating more effectively about CWD and the objectives of targeted removal to combat misinformation, providing additional opportunity during the regular deer season enabling hunters to play a more active role in disease management at that time of year, considering changes to targeted removal methodology (e.g., not field dressing deer on site), and working to align targeted removal goals with landowner deer management goals when possible.

AUTHORS:  Eric M. Walberg, Illinois Natural History Survey; Brent D. Williams, Illinois Natural History Survey; Lauren J. Stephens, Illinois Natural History Survey; Craig A. Miller, Illinois Natural History Survey

ABSTRACT:  Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible neurological disease that is fatal to deer species and has significant environmental, cultural, and economic impacts. Numerous studies have examined support for CWD management among hunters and public, though few have examined landowners’ perspective on CWD management. Understanding Illinois landowners’ beliefs about CWD is important as 97% of land in Illinois is privately owned and landowners’ participation is necessary for CWD management to be effective. We examined the impact of hunting participation on landowners’ beliefs about CWD management, perceived risk from CWD, and trust in the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to manage CWD. During 2024, a mail-based questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 5,000 landowners who own a contiguous property of 50 or more acres in Illinois. We received 1,524 questionnaires for a 32% response rate. Most landowners (59%) were not deer hunters, and most respondents (89%) earned an income from the private property that they own. Most (79%) landowners thought there was slight or no risk of becoming ill from CWD, though hunters perceived a significantly higher risk from CWD than non-hunters (t = -3.03, p = 0.002). Landowners were most concerned with the impact of CWD on the health of the deer population in Illinois and CWD spreading throughout the entire deer herd in Illinois, though non-hunters were significantly less concerned about the impacts of CWD than hunters. Landowners trusted the IDNR to manage CWD in Illinois and there was no significant difference between hunters and non-hunters. Landowners believed that the IDNR’s management actions have been somewhat effective, and there was no significant difference in beliefs between hunters and non-hunters except regarding use of sharpshooting to supplement hunting (t = 2.00, p = .046). Our research suggests hunting participation impacts landowners’ beliefs about the impacts of CWD and support for some management actions in Illinois.

AUTHORS: Sherri Russell, Missouri Department of Conservation

ABSTRACT: Surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease requires testing for the disease. The landscape of test options includes diagnostic tests, regulatory tests and experimental tests. Various tissue types, live and post- mortem tissue options further added to the complexity of the subject. This presentation will present an organized and comprehensive look at testing options and explain the limitations and strengths of the various choices. The presentation will be aimed at providing information to logically understand the tradeoffs between the test platforms and provide information in a way that is accessible to a wide audience of managers.

AUTHORS: Tricia L. Fry, Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; Michael Tonkovich, Ohio Department of Natural Resources

ABSTRACT: Conserving natural resources requires attention to the insults that aim to decrease biodiversity, spread disease, and affect an ecological community. One of these may be the white-tailed deer. When deer populations grow unchecked, they can have significant negative effects on biodiversity. Blossey et al. 2024, suggests that deer management responsibilities in the U.S. should move from state to federal oversight, as states lack the authority to address the broader spectrum of threats posed by burgeoning deer populations including human health and commercial interests, to mention a few. While we do agree with most of the author’s views on the threats that deer pose to forest ecosystems, the connections with human health, the ever-growing human-deer conflict interface, we believe that deer management is much too nuanced for federal oversight. Moreover, states have successfully managed deer for decades and are poised to continue that role, even as new challenges, that require innovative solutions, arise. As agencies struggle with declining hunter numbers, unchecked deer herd growth, increasing CWD distribution, and a growing list of conflicts, hunters are enjoying near unprecedented success rates and harvest opportunities. This sets the stage for a showdown between competing interests. We offer a perspective on the role agencies have in responding to CWD, deer management, and importantly, conservation goals of a more diverse suite of constituents. This is likely to require altering current systems and thinking outside the box to achieve management and conservation goals. Using a systems approach, we propose that agencies can tackle CWD and deer management using assets and expertise within their agencies and looking at deer management from a one health lens.

AUTHORS: Hudman Deborah, MDC; Jason Isabelle, MDC; Aaron Hildreth, MDC

ABSTRACT: Management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is critical to slow the spread of the disease and to protect Missouri’s white-tailed deer population. However, enacting the management is expensive, very demanding of staffing resources, and controversial with some members of the public.

As CWD expands in Missouri, it strains resources needed to manage the disease and necessitates the exploration of new management alternatives. The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) CWD Hunter Harvest Initiative aims to increase deer harvest during the regular hunting season in select areas where CWD has been found to reduce or eliminate the need to conduct post-season targeted removal efforts which are very labor intensive. Engaging local stakeholders in the initiative aims to enhance efficiencies and promote sustainable management of CWD.

The CWD Hunter Harvest Initiative is being piloted in four CWD Core Areas, defined as areas within roughly two miles of a CWD-positive detection. For each core area, a deer harvest goal was established and provided to landowners with property in the core area. Public meetings were held with core area landowners. A public facing website and dashboard were created to allow landowners and hunters to track progress towards the harvest goal.

To count towards the harvest goal, hunters must have had the deer sampled for CWD at a voluntary sampling location or by depositing the deer head in a designated freezer. Landowners were notified if the removal goal was met in a core area. If the goal was not met, post-season targeted removal was conducted.

AUTHORS: [presenting] Elizabeth Rasmussen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; 5463 W Broadway Ave, Forest Lake, MN 55025;
elizabeth.rasmussen@state.mn.us; 651-302-5042

Kelsie LaSharr, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 5463 W Broadway Ave, Forest Lake, MN 55025; kelsie.lasharr@state.mn.us

Michelle Carstensen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; 5463 W Broadway Ave, Forest Lake, MN 55025; michelle.carstensen@state.mn.us;

Erik Hildebrand, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; 5463 W Broadway Ave, Forest Lake, MN 55025; erik.hildebrand@state.mn.us

ABSTRACT: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has conducted Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) since 2002. Since 2016 different surveillance approaches have been implemented, each with varying costs, benefits, trade-offs, and lessons learned. In this presentation I will detail how we calculate a Cost Per Sample for both voluntary and mandatory sampling frameworks, and how this has factored into determining the “sweet spot” of our current surveillance approach. As the disease continues to affect more areas and resources are stretched, having a Cost Per Sample metric gives us the ability to assess staffing, management, and confidence in disease detection against the bottom line.

AUTHORS: Aaron Hildreth, Missouri Department of Conservation; Jason Isabelle, Missouri Department of Conservation; Deb Hudman, Missouri Department of Conservation; Sherri Russell, Missouri Department of Conservation

ABSTRACT: Aggressive management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is critical to slow the spread of the disease and protect Missouri’s white-tailed deer population. Post-season targeted removal, while controversial with some members of the public and expensive in terms of staff and financial resources, is effective at slowing the spread of the disease.

From January 16 through March 15, after the close of the deer hunting season, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) staff work closely with cooperating landowners to remove additional deer within CWD Core Areas (Core). A Core includes the positive section/land grant along with a 2-section buffer.

Through the voluntary participation of landowners in Cores, 4,658 deer were removed across 33 Cores encompassing roughly 2,450 square miles in 2024. These efforts resulted in the removal of 51 CWD-positive deer and lowered deer density in these localized areas to slow the spread of CWD. Landowners removed nearly 1,600 (34%) of the total and MDC and USDA Wildlife Services staff removed the remainder. Starting in 2024, we established removal goals for each Core. The removal goal was met in 20 of the 33 Cores and at least 75% of the removal goal was met in 25 of the 33 Cores where targeted removal occurred in 2024.

A total of 572 free-ranging CWD positive deer have been detected in Missouri since 2012. Of those CWD positive deer, 213 (37%) have been removed during targeted removal while only accounting for 8% of the total deer sampled. MDC’s approach to aggressively manage CWD is intentional and is necessary to conserve Missouri’s deer and elk populations. This past year, over 80% of Missouri’s CWD positive counties had less than 1% of samples test positive. This low infection rate is a result of MDC working with landowners and partners to aggressively manage the disease through targeted removal.

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