FWC To Consider Deer Importation Ban At Pensacola Meeting

September 5, 2013

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will meet Thursday and Friday in Pensacola to consider several items, including a ban on importing out of  state deer due Chronic Wasting Disease.

“Please accept this letter as acknowledgement that the scientific case for closing the border is stronger than we had originally understood,” Senate President Don Gaetz, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Sen. Greg Evers wrote in a letter recently to the FWC. “We now believe that moving forward with (the ban) is the prudent course of action.”

Chronic Wasting Disease is similar to Mad Cow Disease and is fatal to deer. If a deer is found with the disease, the entire population — free-ranging or farmed — must be eradicated to prevent it from spreading.

Marion Hammer of the National Rifle Association, which backs the ban, says the disease could wipe out all the state’s deer.

“Some folks say it’s manageable. It’s not manageable,” Hammer said. “Why should you wait to try to manage something when you can take action to prevent getting it in the first place?”

But opponents of the ban said the move is unnecessary.

“I think it’s a shame,” said Chris Winsey, president of the Southeast Trophy Deer Association. “We’re just being prejudiced toward the deer versus any other animal that’s being moved in our state.”

“They don’t have enough data to close the border,” said Mike Vizcaino, a deer farmer in the St. Augustine area. “If these guys were really afraid of CWD, they would be promoting a statewide testing requirement rather than closing the borders.”

Currently, to reduce chances of the disease entering Florida, the state bans deer from being imported from those states and Canadian provinces where infected deer have been found. The ban also prohibits deer killed in those areas from being brought into Florida unless they have first been deboned or treated and mounted by taxidermists outside the state.

The state also requires that imported deer come from herds that have been certified disease-free for five years. Opponents of the ban have recommended the state consider doubling that time frame.

But Hammer said the disease is so deadly that if it spread to Florida, deer hunting would become too dangerous to continue.

“If we got Chronic Wasting Disease in the state of Florida, I’d never eat another piece of venison,” she said. “The risk is too great. So we need to take the steps that are best to prevent ever getting the disease to begin with.”

The disease is not known to affect people.

Backers of the ban include not only the NRA but the Florida Wildlife Federation, United Sportsmen of Florida, Florida Deer Association, Florida Zoo Association and the Humane Society.

The FWC meeting will take place Thursday and Friday at the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel at 200 East Gregory Street with sessions convening at 8:30 a.m. The Chronic Wasting Disease item appears on the agenda for Friday. The meeting is open to the public, and public comments will be allowed.

Comments

2 Responses to “FWC To Consider Deer Importation Ban At Pensacola Meeting”

  1. deBugger on September 5th, 2013 2:55 pm

    Let’s hope they go ahead and implement this plan. We can’t afford even the POSSIBILITY of “accidental” (read “negligence coupled w/greed”) contamination or further spread of Wasting Diseases.

  2. Reelfun27 Alvin on September 5th, 2013 12:43 pm

    Watch Live: http://thefloridachannel.org/

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports