Georgia DNR gives overview to House committee; confirms first CWD-positive deer found

Commissioner Walter Raven, head of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, told the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee during its first meeting of 2025 that the agency manages more than 1.2 million acres of public land, operates 65 state parks and oversees a broad set of divisions that touch conservation, law enforcement and recreation across the state.

Raven said the department has about 1,900 employees and a budget of about $355,000,000, financed roughly 40% by state funds, 25% by federal grants and 35% by fees and other revenue. "We touch every part of the state and we touch every Georgian in some shape, form, or fashion through the Department of Natural Resources," he said.

The commissioner used the committee appearance to announce a new development in wildlife disease surveillance: confirmation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory that a sample collected from a hunter-harvested deer near the Lanier–Berrien County line tested positive for chronic wasting disease, or CWD. "We did receive positive confirmation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory that one of our hunter harvested deer tested positive for CWD," Raven said. He said the sample was taken as part of routine surveillance and stressed that the department has conducted statewide CWD surveillance since 2002.

Why it matters: CWD is a prion disease that affects cervids and is managed through surveillance, hunter education and targeted response measures. Raven told lawmakers the department will increase public information efforts and testing, and urged Georgians to report sick-appearing deer. He cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance that, while the CDC does not recommend consuming meat from a CWD-positive animal, there has been no documented transmission of CWD to humans.

Raven described the detection as the product of routine surveillance, not a report of a sick animal in the field: "It was our routine efforts that identified this disease." He said the department will treat Lanier and Berrien counties as the current CWD zone and will continue surveillance and hunter outreach through the winter, spring and summer.

The commissioner also summarized DNR divisions for the panel: a coastal resources division that manages shoreline and marine fisheries and administers coastal grants and permits; a law enforcement division of roughly 200 uniformed officers with statewide arrest authority; a state parks and historic sites division that reported 14 million visitors and an estimated $1.6 billion economic impact last year; and a wildlife resources division that operates fish hatcheries, manages game lands and conducts population and harvest surveys.

Raven named deputy commissioners Thomas Bernard and Trevor Santos and said staff at the Wildlife Resources Division were already collecting and testing samples in the field. He directed lawmakers to the department website for additional CWD information and frequently asked questions.