Congress sends CWD bill to president for signature

WASHINGTON — Legislation regarding chronic wasting disease has been advanced by Congress in our nation’s capital.

Friday, the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act was pushed forward after being approved by the Senate.

The act would:

• Put $70 million annually to management and research priorities on CWD through 2028
• Put $35 millions each year to surveillance and testing

Research in the act would include methods to detect CWD in live and harvested deer, best practices for reducing CWD, and looking into what helps CWD spread.

“As hunters, we celebrate this decisive action by our lawmakers to infuse state and Tribal agencies with the resources needed to control CWD, while investing in targeted research to create stronger disease solutions,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Both efforts are necessary to ensure the future of our wild deer herds, our continued hunting opportunities, and the strong impacts of hunter-driven conservation funding.”

The bill now awaits a signature from President Joe Biden.

In West Tennessee, Gibson, Crockett, Lauderdale, Tipton, Shelby, Haywood, Madison, Henderson, Chester, Fayette, Hardeman, Chester and McNairy counties have had deer with CWD.

CWD was found in Wisconsin back in 2002, and after years of surveillance and testing, was found in Hardeman and Fayette counties in 2018.

You can read more about CWD here.

You can find more national news here.