The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has approved new chronic wasting disease (CWD) management zones as a result of legislation approved in the recently completed legislative session. LDWF’s deer program manager Jonathan Bordelon says the size of the four zones has been reduced.
“The CWD management zones are utilizing boundaries 15 miles or more from a positive, compared to the 25 miles or more that were used prior,” Bordelon said.
Three of the zones are located in northeast Louisiana, and a fourth zone covers most of Concordia and Avoyelles parishes.
There have been at least 55 confirmed cases of CWD since first detected in Louisiana in 2022. It’s a 100%t fatal, neurodegenerative disease. Bordelon says that’s why the export of deer carcasses outside of the CWD Management Zone is prohibited.
“Deer carcasses may still harbor the infectious material, and if parts from those deer carcasses are disposed of in the environment, they have the potential to cause further infection in new areas,” Bordelon explained.
One of the issues that lawmakers had with the CWD zones was that baiting restrictions penalized hunters and local businesses that rely on deer feed. Bordelon says the new CWC regulations allow from September 1st to March 31st, 2027, in the four CWD management zones.
“Baiting, in future years though, will be determined by the prevalence rate and the fact that hunters will need to reach their surveillance goal,” Bordelon noted.
The Louisiana Wildlife Federation opposed easing the baiting restrictions over concerns that bait piles lead to deer congregating, which increases the transmission of the fatal disease.
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