ADWA ACTION ALERT

Join Our Online Community Receive action alerts, tips, news and special offers via e-mail.

West Virginia Deer Farmers Push for Ag Department

West Virginia lawmakers are again considering a controversial bill that would transfer bureaucratic control of deer farming in the state from the Division of Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture (DNR). For deer breeders, the battles lines are clear — free agricultural enterprise versus the DNR and some sportsmen.

Del. Bill Anderson, R-Wood, has supported the transfer of control for several years.

"I've sponsored this bill in the past and I favor that transfer of control. I view these farms as an agriculture activity,” said Anderson. “ I believe that if people own a piece of property, they ought to be able to have a deer farm if they want to. I believe in capitalism and free enterprise."

Opponents, however, argue that captive deer can spread disease, such as chronic wasting disease, into wild herds and that the DNR should manage the deer farms because its primary duty is to protect the state's wildlife. A similar bill was introduced several years ago and drew an outcry from many hunters in the state who saw it as a threat to the state's $233 million deer-hunting industry.

"This has gone nowhere in the past," said DNR director Frank Jezioro, "because sportsmen rose up against this. We've been up and down this road many times, whitetail deer are a native species and wildlife should be regulated by the DNR. When you put captive animals in close proximity, the chances of disease are so much greater. We don't want to take a chance of something getting out that might jeopardize the deer herd of the state of West Virginia."

There is no known treatment for CWD, and it is fatal for the infected deer or elk. There is no evidence to suggest CWD poses a risk for humans or domestic animals.

West Virginia has seen one outbreak of the disease in Hampshire County that was discovered in 2005. As of last September, the DNR has spent about $1.2 million in efforts to contain it, said Paul Johansen, assistant DNR chief.

Anderson, however, points out that it has only been found in the state's wild herd.

"The only chronic wasting disease we've had has been in the wild herd and to the best of my knowledge, it has never been found on any captive farm in this state. If you look at the logistics, if someone who has a deer farm would suspect they have a disease, I would expect they would get a veterinarian there quickly. You would not want to spread it to adjoining farms or other animals in your herd," he said.

Del. Dan Poling, R-Wood, one of the bill's sponsors, said he believes that since the deer are raised for meat, it is agriculture's jurisdiction.

"If you are raising deer on a farm, it's just like a hog farm or a chicken farm. It's not wildlife if they are raised in a captive environment. Agriculture ought to make decisions on this," he said.

Jezioro, however, said the key difference is there are no wild herds of cattle, for instance, that need protected.

"So, when you put a whitetail deer in a pen, he is no longer a whitetail deer? That's like saying if you took a black angus cow that was free-ranging and put it in a pen, it is no longer a black angus cow," he said.

Shawn Schafer, executive director of the North American Deer Farmers Association, agrees with Anderson that deer farming should be under the control of the Department of Agriculture.

“Deer farms are an agriculture enterprise,” says Schafer. “Deer farming may be an alternative type of farming, but it is still an agriculture-based activity nonetheless.

“Jezioro has demonstrated in his recent comments exactly why the deer farm industry would prefer to be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture,” adds Schafer. “He stated that whitetail deer are still deer, even in captivity. But beyond his ability to state the obvious, these comments illustrate the bias that exists in the Division of Natural Resources. DNR wants to treat captive deer the same as wild deer, and the rights of deer farmers are often trampled as a result.”

Schafer explains that the inability of DNR to comprehend the differences between deer in the wild and captive deer is precisely why the deer farm industry would prefer to deal with an agency more equipped to handle farming ventures.

“Managing wildlife is something DNR does exceptionally well,” says Schafer. “Moving the regulatory authority of captive deer to the Department of Agriculture would not in any way prevent DNR from doing its job. Jezioro should step aside and let the Department of Agriculture do what it does well, which is the regulation of the agriculture industry in West Virginia.”