Committee hears bill creating pathway to remove high‑fence release sites with testing and notification requirements

Senate Bill 2 031, carried by Senator Kolkhorst, would create a statutory pathway for landowners to remove a high fence around a release site (that previously received breeder deer) if specific safeguards are met. The bill requires that the release site have not had a positive CWD test, that five years have passed since the most recent captive deer release, and that each released deer bear visible identification. TPWD must certify the site is free of disease at a minimum 95 percent confidence interval over five years under certain conditions; a 99.1 percent confidence interval standard applies to sites with specified trace connections.