Wisconsin Ag Connection - DNR Looking for Comments on First CWD Contaminated Farm

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DNR Looking for Comments on First CWD Contaminated Farm
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 07/21/2011

The state's natural resources department is looking for some feedback from the public on what to do with the former Buckhorn Flats game operation in Portage County--which was the first such farm to raise animals that tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease back in 2002.

The agency will be holding an open house on July 28 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Almond-Bancroft School.

In March, the DNR purchased the property for $465,000 to ensure that the deer fence around the 65 acre property is maintained well enough to prevent wild deer from becoming infected with the fatal brain disease.

The whitetail deer operation had been operated by Stan Hall until 2006 when the USDA closed it down due to its CWD outbreak. Over 80 deer were infected with the fatal brain disorder as a result of the property's mismanagement.

Meanwhile, the agency recently adopted a Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan, which sets a goal to minimize the area of Wisconsin where CWD occurs and the number of infected deer in the state.

Since 2002, over 1,200 Portage County wild deer have been tested for CWD with no positives.

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