Michigan bait ban would be lifted during the hunting season under a Senate bill

A total ban on feeding and feeding deer in the Lower Peninsula to fight chronic wasting could be lifted through legislation being considered this week by a Michigan Senate committee.

The State Natural Resources Commission approved the ban last year as part of a series of changes to the deer hunting rules designed to limit the spread of chronic debilitating disease, a contagious and deadly neurological disease. deer, elk and moose. It came into force on January 31, 2019.

State officials defended the rule change, noting that nose-to-nose contact with deer at artificial feeding or baiting stations could accelerate the spread of the chronic debilitating disease.

However, some legislators are not convinced that the practice of baiting or feeding animals correlates with the spread of the disease and should be allowed to continue. Senate Bill 37, sponsored by Senator Curt VanderWall, of R-Ludington, lifts the ban on feeding animals and allows primer during the hunting season.

At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources this week, VanderWall told lawmakers that chronic wasting disease was "a very serious problem," but felt that preventing baits could accelerate the decline. hunting in Michigan and reduce herd management efforts.

"In my opinion, baiting is a tool that helps us manage the herd," he told lawmakers. "Fewer hunters means less harvest, which is bad for herd management – it could even lead to an increase in CWD and other diseases."

The Department of Natural Resources opposes the bill. Craig Burnett, legislative liaison of the agency, said the decision to ban bait in the Lower Peninsula was not taken lightly and had been taken after several consecutive meetings of the Natural Resources Commission devoted to the issue .

"We think it was the right decision to ban bait to help control the spread of the disease," he said.

Dr. Kelly Straka, a wildlife veterinarian at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said research indicates a higher likelihood of transmission in artificial feeding sites.

"Scientific evidence indicates that this type of landscape practice further aggravates disease transmission and leads to different contact rates between animals that normally would not normally touch each other," she said.

The bill elicited comments from citizens across the state, many of whom expressed concern over the blanket ban.

Hillsdale resident Dave Wheeler, creator of Lucky Buck Mineral, said the new ban may have the unintended consequence that deer congregate at fewer sites looking for sodium sources.

"The more sites you have, the more equal distribution these deer have and the more likely they are to travel and infect neighboring deer herds," he said.

The committee has not yet voted on the bill to cancel the ban. To become law, Senate Bill 37 should be passed by the Senate and House and be signed by the governor.

Since the discovery of the first white-tailed deer living in Michigan in May 2015 in Michigan, cases have been confirmed in Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Ionia, Ingham, Jackson, Kent and Montcalm Counties. Last October, a deer positive for the deer virus was also found in the Upper Peninsula of Dickinson County.

It is not known if the disease can be transmitted to humans, but as a precaution, hunters are advised not to consume meat from infected animals. The biggest problem now with MDC is the long-term health of the state's deer population.

This week, DNR and Michigan State University officials announced that they are seeking funding for research and education projects to combat chronic wasting, including tracking the persistence of the disease in the environment. and develop new methods of detection and field testing.