Who is Tending the (Deer) Farm?

I grew up in Cleveland County (North Carolina) near the South Carolina line at the western edge of the Piedmont region.  When I was a kid, this was a rural, farming community.  I spent most of my free time romping through the woods and fishing in farm ponds within walking distance of home.  There were a variety of small game animals in the area, and I boxed trapped rabbits and the occasional possum.  There were no deer in my childhood community.  In fact, I was late into my teenage years before I saw my first live, wild deer.

When I signed on as a wildlife officer in 1985 my first duty station was in Graham County.  Again, I found myself in an area with a small deer population.  In my 4 ½ in that county I can count on my fingers and toes the number of deer I saw while out working.

That all changed when I moved to Rutherford County.  There were plenty of deer and plenty of deer hunters, both legal and illegal.  Over the rest of my career I spent countless nights working to catch spotlighters, and many cold winter days chasing road hunters.  Over the course of my 29 years as an officer, I saw the transition from viewing the harvest of does move from taboo to something that is encouraged to maintain a healthy herd. 

But, it wasn't all work.  I managed to kill a few deer in between work activities and enjoyed all the steps from field to table.  Some of my fondest memories are of sitting on a deer stand with my kids.

I lay that foundation to acknowledge that I have a bit of a bias when it comes to deer.  And, I realize deer can generate headaches - I have experienced firsthand the frustration of deer depredation.  But, just this morning I saw seven deer cross my drive and even after all these years, I stopped to look at them.

Commissioner Steve Troxler

The news that a bill (Section 14.26a beginning on page 145) has been introduced to move the oversight of captive deer to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Customer Services (DACS) struck a nerve.  After all in a 2010 press release, DACS Commissioner Steve Troxler declared, “Bambi is a pest.”  I’m not sure that this is the department we want to entrust with the stewardship of our deer.

On the surface there are valid arguments for making this move.  The captive deer program is a “farming” type operation.  The deer are bred and managed much the same way livestock are managed, and for an equally diverse variety of reasons.  Some breeders simply like having a few deer in their backyard.  Others breed for large, antlered bucks to sell to other breeders; to have trophy animals valued by high fence hunting operations like this one on the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina; or to sell semen to other breeders.  Those practices mirror traditional livestock farming (except that cattle aren’t raised to be hunted inside a fence).  But while there are similarities, there are legitimate concerns about managing wild animals as though they are livestock.

The most obvious concern is disease transmission.  Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) first showed up in Pennsylvania and Missouri in captive deer facilities, and the first discovery of CWD in the wild herd in Wisconsin was suspected to be linked to a game farm in the area.  Livestock can be vaccinated and/or tested for the most common diseases that affect those animals.  And if there is a disease outbreak the flock or herd can be quarantined, treated (or destroyed) and the contaminated area cleaned.  The DACS has a great record of successfully managing these types of issues.  But, there is no live test for CWD (brain or spinal tissue must be tested) and there is an 18-24 month incubation period (some studies suggest a longer period) after an animal has been exposed to CWD.  The prions linked to CWD can remained active in the soil for years. 

CWD positive deer - dnrec.delaware.gov

 Finally, two sentences in the proposed bill are especially troubling.

“The Commissioner may take emergency action pursuant to the provisions in this Article if needed to protect the cervid industry in North Carolina or wild cervid populations. Such action shall remain in force until rescinded by the Commissioner.” [Emphasis added]

So, the Commissioner of DACS, who has publicly expressed, “Bambi is a pest” would have the authority to take emergency actions that will affect the wild deer population if this bill is passed.  If asked to choose between a handful of (influential) captive deer farmers or thousands of free ranging “pests,” what type of emergency actions will be taken?  It is a scary thought.

The North Carolina Wildlife Federation has issued an alert and encourages concerned citizens to contact their legislators expressing their concern about this proposal.  You can view and participate in this alert here.

What happens next will depend on what the people say.  Or  maybe what we don’t say.