Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is now in Tennessee, and experts with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) are holding public workshops to answer questions about the disease and what hunters and others should know.
“CWD is a fatal disease primarily affecting members of the cervid family that includes white-tailed deer, elk, mule deer, moose, and others,” says Dr. Dan Grove, wildlife veterinarian with UT Extension. “We are concerned about the impacts the disease will have on the deer herd in southwest Tennessee and the impacts on hunters and people living in the affected area. We want to offer an opportunity to learn more about the disease and the new hunting regulations. We also want to share what people can do to help TWRA with disease management.”
Each workshop will include discussions of the new hunting regulations for eight West Tennessee counties: Fayette, Hardeman and Madison, where the disease has been detected, as well as the surrounding counties of Chester, Haywood, McNairy, Shelby and Tipton. If you plan to hunt in any of these counties, consider attending a workshop.
Nearly 50 interested hunters and landowners turned out for the first meeting in McNairy County on July 9. Many more are expected for the remaining workshops, which will take place in southwestern Tennessee counties through August, each at 7 p.m. The remaining schedule includes:
Haywood County – Thursday, Aug. 1, Haywood County Justice Complex
Chester County – Tuesday, Aug. 27, Henderson City Hall
Grove has just released a UT Extension fact sheet describing the disease, which is available online at extension.tennessee.edu. Search the “publications” tab for Chronic Wasting Disease. Questions about the workshops or dealing with CWD should be directed to the TWRA Region 1 Office by calling 731-423-5725.
