Louisiana committee reviews LDWF notice of intent to limit deer baiting, tighten carcass movement after new CWD detection

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Joint Natural Resources Committee on Aug. 26 heard a presentation from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and outside scientists about a notice of intent tied to an expanded chronic wasting disease (CWD) control area after a positive detection in Catahoula Parish earlier this year.

The department and the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission told lawmakers the proposed rule packages two central measures: (1) limits on baiting and supplemental feeding in a close-in “enhanced mitigation” zone and (2) restrictions on moving whole cervid carcasses out of designated control areas, with specified exceptions. LDWF staff characterized the package as less restrictive than an emergency declaration the commission adopted in April.

The proposal matters because CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that LDWF staff described as “a deer disease. It is 100 percent fatal,” and because infectious prions can persist in soil and other parts of the environment for years, increasing the long-term risk of transmission if the disease becomes established, experts told the committee.

Officials’ summary of the proposal and background

Cole Garrett, LDWF general counsel, told the committee that the commission adopted a declaration of emergency in April after a CWD-positive test and that the notice of intent currently before the commission is the department’s attempt to craft “less restrictive measures” while addressing public concerns. Garrett said the commission directed the department “to come up with some less restrictive measures, to try to both deal with some of the comments and concerns we were having from folks that were gonna be impacted by this rule, but also, take on the constitutional obligation … to mitigate the spread of this disease.”

Kevin Segarra, chairman of the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, said the commission is “weighing the biology that we have and also weigh the constituency” and described a planned CWD working group whose first meeting will follow the commission’s Sept. 4 meeting.

Jonathan Bordelon, LDWF deer program manager, and national experts provided scientific and operational context. Bordelon outlined how the agency tests hunter-submitted samples (retropharyngeal lymph nodes and brain stem tissue using USDA-approved diagnostics) and said the department has sampled more than 21,000 deer since 2002. Bordelon said the Tensas Parish control area has recorded dozens of positives since 2022 and that a new positive in Catahoula Parish prompted the current expansion via the April emergency declaration.

“What we are trying to do is early detection and mitigation,” Bordelon said, explaining the rationale for controlling artificial congregation of deer and restricting carcass movement.

Key provisions described for the notice of intent

- Enhanced mitigation zone: LDWF described an inner zone—roughly the area closest to a confirmed positive—where all baiting and supplemental feeding of deer would be prohibited.

- Buffer zone exceptions: Beyond that inner zone (presented to the committee as roughly 15 to 25 miles from the nearest positive) the notice would allow limited feeding by mechanical or electronic broadcast methods (for example, a spreader on an ATV, UTV, truck or tractor) but only in portions of the outer buffer and not within the enhanced mitigation zone.

- Carcass movement and processing: The notice would prohibit moving an intact cervid carcass out of the CWD control area but would allow certain processed parts (quarters, boned-out meat) and would permit taxidermy and professional processors to accept carcasses under specific conditions (for example, no head/backbone moved outside the control area without a permit; unused parts double-bagged and sent to lined landfills). Bordelon told lawmakers many commercial processors already operate inside the control area and can accept carcasses from within it.

- Voluntary expanded harvest option: LDWF said it is offering a voluntary Deer Management Assistance Program to landowners within roughly five miles of a confirmed positive. The program waives minimum acreage requirements and provides additional tags, extended season days (15 days beyond the normal end of season) and the ability to exceed daily and seasonal bag limits as a nonmandatory tool to reduce local deer density.

Scientific context and uncertainties presented

University of Georgia scientists Mike Chamberlain and Mark Reuter and LDWF staff emphasized that CWD can spread both by direct contact between deer and indirectly through environmental contamination (saliva, feces, decomposing infected carcasses), and that the prions that cause CWD can remain infectious in soil for years. Chamberlain described localized examples from Arkansas and Wisconsin to illustrate how prevalence can remain low for years and then move into an exponential growth phase once it reaches a critical threshold.

Chamberlain said an Arkansas study of one high-prevalence area now shows prevalence exceeding 40 percent overall and more than 50 percent in males, and that the population in that core area is “declining about 11% per year.” He added that early detection and early intervention are the primary practical options for slowing the spread.

Testing and surveillance details

Bordelon told the committee the agency relies primarily on voluntary hunter-submitted samples and on mandatory checks from some public hunting areas, and that LDWF offers free, year-round drop-off diagnostic testing for hunters. He said most surveillance samples come from hunter harvest because Louisiana hunters harvest more than 200,000 deer each year, providing a geographically broad sample base. Bordelon said LDWF has collected roughly 21,000 samples since 2002 and reported 39 detections in Tensas Parish since 2022; the April Catahoula Parish finding prompted an emergency expansion of the control area.

Concerns raised by lawmakers, hunters and farmers

Committee members and public commenters raised several recurring concerns: the economic impact on small farmers and commercial corn/soy processors that bag and sell feed; the effect on recreational and youth hunters and on bowhunting (where baiting is commonly used); the difficulty of enforcing nonstationary broadcast exceptions; and the lack of uniform transport rules among states, which can create legal confusion when hunters move processed venison across state lines.

- Farmers and Farm Bureau: Andy Brown and Joe Mapes of the Louisiana Farm Bureau argued the emergency declaration and rapid rulemaking sidestepped a broader stakeholder process. Brown said the department’s earlier NOI draft stated no known economic impact, and Farm Bureau pushed LDWF to acknowledge potential impacts; Farm Bureau requested a seat at continued talks and flagged the local direct-to-consumer bagged-corn market as potentially affected.

- Hunting community: Several legislators and public commenters, including Representative Ventrella and bowhunters who testified, said baiting is part of long-standing hunting practice and that a ban would harm participation and related local spending. Jack Lyles, a bowhunter, told the committee a baiting prohibition would hit bowhunting-related commerce and tax receipts.

- Conservation groups: Rick Owens of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation told legislators the federation initially wanted more restrictive measures (the federation favored a larger control area) but would support the NOI as a compromise and urged that a new task force be allowed to recommend further actions.

Agency responses and limitations

LDWF attorneys and staff emphasized the commission adopted the emergency declaration in April to stop potential spread and that the notice of intent is a narrower regulatory package the commission can adopt through the administrative rule process. LDWF said if the NOI were not adopted, the more-restrictive emergency declaration would remain in effect.

Commissioner Mike Strain, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, said the state has restricted importation of live deer: “In September 2012, we blocked the importation of any deer from any state,” he told the committee, and department staff said the state has quarantined and depopulated illegally imported herds when identified.

What the committee was told about next steps

LDWF said the notice of intent will proceed through the administrative rule process and that the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission will convene a working group (task force) after the Sept. 4 commission meeting to advise longer-term responses. The commission and department told lawmakers they will continue public outreach in affected parishes and work with landowners, processors and hunting clubs.

Discussion vs. formal action

The Aug. 26 hearing was informational; members of the commission and LDWF described the April emergency declaration and the NOI (notice of intent) before the committee and answered questions. The transcript includes no formal committee vote on the notice of intent. LDWF and the commission characterized the NOI as less restrictive than the emergency declaration the commission already adopted.

Ending

Committee members asked LDWF to continue outreach to landowners, the Farm Bureau, processors and hunters and to work with neighboring states on transport and carcass rules. LDWF said it will meet face-to-face with landowners in affected parishes in the coming weeks and that the newly created CWD task force will meet after the commission's Sept. 4 meeting to consider additional recommendations.

(For clarity: all direct quotations in this article are attributed to speakers who appeared at the Aug. 26 Joint Natural Resources Committee hearing and are drawn from LDWF staff and the outside experts who presented.)