L*L
Markess
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 12:41:38 EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Boulder Commissioners OK deer kill on Boulder public land
FYI-two stories from 2/26/03 Boulder Camera and Rocky Mountain News:
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Officials grant permission to kill, test open space deer
By Katy Human, Boulder Daily Camera, February 26, 2003
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_1772151,00.
html
County officials gave the go-ahead Tuesday for state wildlife officials to
shoot about 50 deer on Boulder County open space as part of an effort to
control chronic wasting disease.
The unanimous decision by county commissioners followed more than two hours
of emotional testimony from activists and researchers opposed to the killing.
They asked commissioners to slap a three-month moratorium on deer killing on
county land for three months, when a new live test for chronic wasting
disease might become available. And they slammed state officials for a policy
they called unproven, unethical and unlikely to succeed at controlling the
deadly elk and deer disease.
Commissioners acknowledged their decision was a difficult one, because
chronic wasting disease is not well understood scientifically.
"The question now is to do nothing or proceed with the imperfect and clumsy
tools that are available," Commissioner Paul Danish said. "My feeling is to
proceed with the Division of Wildlife for now."
Commissioner Tom Mayer concurred.
"People have talked about the mass killing of deer and to be honest, that's
not what were talking about here," he said. "To help stanch what appears to
be ... an expanding disease problem here, I can live with what the Division
of Wildlife's doing."
Dave Clarkson, a state wildlife manager, said officials could begin working
on county land within weeks. Near Rabbit Mountain Open Space, they expect to
kill about 20 deer in an area known as a hot spot for the disease, he said.
Last year, about one in every five animals tested there had chronic wasting
disease.
Culling in the immediate vicinity of the hot spot could eliminate a
significant number of animals that might spread disease, Clarkson said. In
addition, the strategy would reduce the number of deer in the area, so
remaining sick animals are less likely to run into others and pass along the
disease.
Nearby, state officials want to test an additional 30 deer to see if the
disease has spread south from the Rabbit Mountain hot spot.
Charles Southwick, an emeritus biology professor at the University of
Colorado, warned that the plans might backfire. Removing healthy animals from
deer herds could leave a population more susceptible to disease if some
animals have genetic resistance to the illness, he said. And killing many
animals in a herd could make the remaining animals scatter, possibly carrying
chronic wasting disease it into a new area.
Toni Melici, president and CEO of GeneThera Inc. in Wheat Ridge, asked
commissioner to delay any decision for three more months, by which time he
hopes to validate a new blood test for the deadly disease. If it works as
Melici expects, he said tests could cost the county $25 per animal.
"Our goal is to keep the Boulder County animals alive," Melici said.
But Janet George of the Division of Wildlife told commissioners the blood
test is unlikely to change the situation.
A live tonsil test for chronic wasting disease is available, but it requires
darting an animal, radio-collaring it, taking a piece of its tonsil and
running a laboratory test on it, she said. Deer that test positive must be
tracked and killed.
"The real cost in the live testing is the cost of the capture of the animal,"
George said.
All three commissioners said they would gladly consider changing county
policy if an inexpensive and convenient live test becomes available.
Contact Katy Human at (303) 473-1364 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Copyright 2003, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.
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Deer shoot aims to fight CWD
Boulder County officials are hoping to contain disease
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News, February 26, 2003
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1771692,00.
html
BOULDER - Boulder County commissioners reluctantly approved the killing of 50
more deer Tuesday to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease.
The state wildlife division plans to start shooting animals soon on county
open space with a high incidence of the deadly illness.
The three-member panel's unanimous vote came over objections from some county
residents who argued the disease is not sufficiently widespread to warrant
the killings.
Marcia Barber of the Chronic Wasting Disease Working Group, a local
organization opposed to the killings, said CWD has been known in Colorado for
at least 30 years. Only about 1 percent of the deer brought in for testing by
hunters had the disease, she said.
But the incidence is between 20 and 21 percent in the areas where the herds
will be culled, said Dave Clarkson, the Colorado Division of Wildlife's
northeast region CWD coordinator.
Anita Moss, a member of Barber's group, said the Division of Wildlife turned
Sugarloaf Mountain into a "killing field' by shooting 21 deer last year,
including fawns.
Commissioners opposed the killing of deer on open space last year, but
relented after Gov. Bill Owens sent them a letter, and testing showed an area
near the Larimer County line had one of the state's highest infection rates
in the wild.
Culling will be random because there is no way to tell which animals are
carriers, Clarkson said.
But retired University of Colorado biology professor Charles Southwick warned
that shooting deer could spread the disease.
Some animals will wander to other areas if the social structure of the herd
is damaged, Southwick said. And new animals could move into the territory
abandoned by the diseased deer, possibly becoming sick, he said.
"We do not know enough about CWD to bludgeon our way into herds and kill
deer," he said.
Little is known about how the disease which leaves holes in the animal's
brain, is spread, he said.
The commissioners were clearly unhappy about deciding the issue amid
conflicting testimony. But they agreed that doing nothing is more likely to
spread CWD than following the wildlife division's plan.
"No one here wants to kill deer," said Commissioner Tom Mayer. "The concern
comes down to what kills the fewest deer and the consequences of doing
nothing."
A Wheat Ridge businessman told the commissioners he is seeking regulatory
approval for a test that will show which deer have CWD, eliminating the need
to cull herds at random. Tony Milici said he expects the test to be available
by July.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or (303) 892-5072
Copyright 2003, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
