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Temporary rule banning farmed deer movement rescinded

Temporary rule banning farmed deer movement rescinded

By Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

An emergency rule temporarily prohibiting the importation and movement of farmed white-tailed deer into and within Minnesota will be rescinded as of Dec. 6. The temporary rule, in effect since Oct. 11, is one tool the DNR has used to reduce spread of CWD and protect the health of Minnesota’s wild deer.

The Oct. 11 rule was in response to the discovery that a CWD-positive farm in Wisconsin shipped 387 farmed white-tailed deer to farms in seven states, including Minnesota.

In enacting the rule, the ban gave the DNR time for itself, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, and other state and federal agencies to track the movement of deer from the infected farm and understand the potential risk to other herds.

The DNR obtained all available information from agencies outside Minnesota involved in the regulation of farmed deer. However, it has concluded learning more won’t be possible due to loss of records, variability in the ways other jurisdictions monitor CWD in deer farms and in wild deer, and the lack of testing in some other states. As a result, the DNR cannot fully determine the risk these deer pose to Minnesota’s wild and farmed deer populations but believes it has done all it can to understand the risks posed by the Taylor County, Wisconsin farm.

The DNR built on its CWD-surveillance efforts during this year’s deer season by managing 87 sampling stations in the state’s mandatory and voluntary sampling areas. More than 7,000 samples were collected, which will provide invaluable additional insight regarding the geography and presence of CWD in Minnesota.

In addition to its ongoing CWD-surveillance efforts, the DNR will work in cooperation with the BAH to strengthen permanent rules pertaining to interstate and intrastate movement of farmed cervids.

More information about the effort to monitor and manage CWD is available here.

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