Formerly The Outspoken Sportsman

Politicians urge lift of baiting ban

Ban instituted after doe tested positive for CWD 

http://www.record-eagle.com/outdoors/local_story_263095016.html

TRAVERSE CITY -- Some Michigan politicians want to lift a ban on using bait to lure deer during hunting season in lower Michigan.

State officials banned baiting over fears it could help spread a deadly deer disease, but politicians who oppose the restriction said those who grow and sell bait crops could suffer financially.

State Sen. James Barcia, D-Bay City, plus state Reps. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, and Jeff Mayes, D-Bay City, sponsored similar resolutions in the Michigan legislature this week to urge state officials to rescind a ban enacted after a deer at a private ranch in Kent County tested positive last month for chronic wasting disease.

The politicians contend state officials overreacted.

"We've got people who are going to go bankrupt because of this," Sheltrown said.

The infected doe tested positive for the fatal neurological disease, a condition that causes progressive debilitation in infected animals before eventual death. State authorities quarantined fenced deer ranches and banned baiting and feeding of wildlife across the entire Lower Peninsula in an effort to prevent CWD from spreading to the wild deer herd, Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials said.

The fallout is that farmers who grow crops such as sugar beets and carrots may not be able to unload their harvests, ban opponents said.

"I think it will be devastating economically to rural Michigan," Barcia said. "I can understand why they did it. They want to take every precaution necessary, but I think they've overreached on the ban."

Not everyone agrees.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians supports the baiting ban. Michigan's wild deer herd is a valuable natural resource for the public and the tribe, said Hank Bailey, a tribal fish and wildlife technician and elder tribe member.

"If they bow to this, they are jeopardizing that resource," Bailey said, adding he fully expected politicians to meddle in the decision.

DNR officials, meanwhile, balk at the idea of politics interfering with wildlife management.

"Concentrating deer activity at bait sites increases the likelihood that diseases will be passed from deer to deer. The DNR doubts that most people would say 'yes' to the question: Are you willing to risk causing Michigan's deer herd to be sick from chronic wasting disease from this day forward just so that you can use bait?" said Mary Dettloff, agency spokeswoman.

"The impact of CWD in the wild herd would hurt many small businesses around the state, many of whom do not sell bait."

The politicians say it's not just about lost profits, but also finding a real solution to the disease.

"I feel that it's probably not a wise decision based on what's happened in other states. Why would we try to do the same thing that doesn't work?" Sheltrown said.

In Wisconsin, CWD was discovered in wild deer in 2002. The Wisconsin DNR banned baiting in areas surrounding CWD surveillance zones and also tried to eradicate the deer there through liberal hunting seasons and the use of sharpshooters.

"At best, we've slowed the spread of the disease," said Davin Lopez, CWD biologist with the Wisconsin DNR.

No deer tested positive for CWD in areas where baiting remains legal, but numbers of deer with the disease in the state's CWD surveillance zones did increase, he said.

A statewide baiting ban never went into effect in Wisconsin, primarily due to politics, Lopez said.

"It may very well be a drastic reaction, especially economically. But when you consider the risk, if Michigan ends up finding it in the wild deer it will be a much bigger problem," he said. "It's good to utilize all tools to limit the spread."