CWD check stations will
be in place across Region 6
Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks will have check stations in place across Region 6 to
sample for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer, elk and moose during the
upcoming general hunting season. This is part of a planned surveillance
effort, and FWP encourages hunters to help by submitting their harvested
animals for testing.
Last
year, FWP discovered CWD in deer south of Billings and north of Chester. This
contagious neurological disease can infect deer, elk and moose. It is always
fatal and there is no known cure. Because of the new discovery, transport
restrictions are in place for animals harvested in locations where CWD has been
detected in Liberty and Carbon counties.
In
2018, FWP will conduct surveillance during the general fall hunting season in
high-priority areas in parts of northern Montana, including Hunting Districts
(HD) 403 and 401 in Region 4, and 640, 670, 630, 620, 611, and 600 in Region 6,
as those areas are near known CWD detections in southern Alberta and
Saskatchewan.
At
the check stations, FWP personnel will remove retropharyngeal lymph nodes, a
tooth, and a genetic sample from voluntarily submitted animals, and ask for
hunter information and harvest location. If a hunter is willing to
contribute samples but first wants to take the head to a taxidermist, FWP
personnel will take some information at the check station and follow up with
the taxidermist later for the lymph nodes.
Hunters
will be given a unique identification number for the sample and will be able to
view the test results within three weeks at fwp.mt.gov/cwd.
Check
stations for collecting CWD samples will be located in Havre, the Malta area,
and shifting between the Scobey and Glasgow areas. CWD check stations
will be in operation Sat. and Sun. during daylight hours.
All
hunters
must stop at all check stations, but submission of CWD samples is
voluntary. In addition, deer harvested in HD 640 may also be sampled for
bovine tuberculosis as part of a separate study. Check station locations
are subject to change depending upon sampling priority, and locations will be
updated weekly on the Region 6 Facebook page.
Heads
may also be submitted at the FWP Region 6 Headquarters in Glasgow from 8 a.m.-5
p.m. Mon.-Fri. and at the Havre Field Office from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Mon.-Fri. There will not be an unmanned “drop bucket” for heads at
the offices…hunters will need to contact office personnel when dropping off
heads so FWP can get the proper harvest information.
If
hunters would like to submit a sample for CWD testing that was harvested
outside of the priority surveillance area, they may do so on their own.
Instructions are available on the website at fwp.mt.gov/cwd, and there is a fee
of $18 to Colorado State University for the test in addition to shipping costs.
Please help FWP with CWD surveillance this fall by providing samples of your
harvest(s) in the surveillance area. Thanks in advance to participating
hunters, landowners, communities, wildlife watchers and other agencies for
their partnership in this effort. If there are any questions, please
contact the Region 6 FWP headquarters at 406-228-3700.
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