In North Dakota, tensions are rising over how to handle chronic wasting disease in wildlife. The state’s Game & Fish officials are facing backlash from property owners, outdoors enthusiasts, and even former lawmakers who feel their voices are being ignored. While concerns over regulations are legitimate, alarms are being sounded about misinformation and conspiracy theories lacking scientific backing, like the denial of prions’ existence. This struggle highlights a larger cultural conflict, where important discussions on wildlife management are getting tangled in broader societal divides.
Rob Port has thoughts on an issue that seems likely to wound deer hunting in North Dakota, possibly for generations if we can’t see past our mistrust of government.
Beneath a sea of orange shirts, North Dakota’s hunters gathered at the Capitol, rallying for a cause close to their hearts. They want Senate Bill 2137, a concise legal proposal, to lift the restrictions on using bait for deer hunting. Proponents argue that these restrictions, designed to prevent chronic-wasting disease, have overreached, impacting traditional hunting practices. Critics from the Game and Fish Department caution that easing restrictions could heighten disease risks. It’s a classic debate: tradition versus precaution.
It’s not the first story of the week on this topic either, the story linked below out of Wyoming highlights the growing threat CWD presents.
SB 2137
A BILL for an Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 20.1-05 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the use of supplemental feed for hunting.
House Sponsors: Koppelman (R, District 16), Novak (R, District 33), Tveit (R, District 33)
Senate Sponsors: Boehm (R, District 33)Patten (R, District 26), Thomas (R, District 6)
