Time TO ACT!!!

[greg]

Members and Visitors:

Over the years we have had many spirited debates on deer management, season lengths, weapons and many other topics on deer. Today the most important issue concerning our deer herd is in front of us, High fence shooting preserves. House Bill 1265 passed out of committee on Tuesday and will be going to the House floor for a vote in the next few days. From there it will move to the Senate for a hearing and then the Senate votes. This is being portrayed as a bill that will create jobs, as well as the "Humane harvest of farm raised livestock".

I know many of you visit the deer hunting forum for the great pictures and stories, as well as hunting tips. All of that will be lost should CWD be found in Indiana. IDNR's plan should CWD be found in Indiana is to double bag limits in the county CWD is found as well as all the surrounding counties! If you think we have a reduction now just wait.........

Please take a few minutes and visit the Legislation forum if you have not been there lately. Read the topics on High fence then make a decision to participate in our legislative process.

I am submitting a letter to my House Rep and my State Senator and will post it shortly, please feel free to copy it or use any part of it you wish.

Finally, call your friends, email, post on FaceBook, post this on other hunting sites you visit. We have to get the word out!

Joe Bacon

President Indiana Deer Hunters Association

(reposted from another site)
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[greg]

This letter is concerning House Bill1265 (high fence shooting preserves), it concerns me greatly that Indiana is willing to establish an industry/jobs that ultimately will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Bovine Tuberculosis was found recently in an Indiana elk herd, that facility was depopulated. Animals sold from that facility were found on two shooting preserves in Indiana and both of those were also depopulated, at taxpayer expense! I have requested the costs and will send them to you when I receive them, Indiana's BOAH as well as USDA-APHIS participated in the depopulation. In fact the USDA had to pay replacement costs for the animals killed.

Bovine TB is small when compared to Chronic Wasting Disease(CWD), Bovine TB can be eradicated on a confined property while CWD can not. Researchers have yet to find a property that has been contaminated to be CWD free today. You can depopulate, but the prions associated with CWD are in the ground and environment forever. Wisconsin just purchased what was a high fence shooting preserve that had CWD, they are considering adding an additional fence and have no intentions of ever opening the property to any activity....a waste land!

Seventeen (17) states now have CWD in captive or wild deer, with the states of Missouri and Maryland being added to the list in 2011. (North Dakota and Virginia were added in 2010)

All of these states believed they had the proper regulations in place in prevent CWD from affecting their state. Despite those efforts, CWD is spreading due to transporting diseased animals from one game farm to another, many times being transported illegally. It only takes one diseased animal to eventually affect a whole state.


The seventeen (17) states that now has CWD in captive or wild herds have spent literally millions of dollars, mostly money from hunter’s license fees, to combat CWD.On February 28,2002 Wisconsin discovered CWD in their deer herd and definitively traced it to a captive deer facility/shooting preserve. Wisconsin has now spent more than 50 million dollars and CWD is spreading into additional counties every few years. Wisconsin predicts that eventually CWD will affect 40% of all adult deer in that state.


The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission predicts that if that state gets CWD, their state will lose from 35 to 54 million dollars in recreational economic activity each year.

My question to you is, who will pay for the costs in Indiana? Indiana Government does not "make money", it is generated from the taxpayer. I am not willing to support an industry that eventually will cost me more tax dollars. Frankly, I would rather you set aside five million dollars a year in the budget and pay those people this will create a job for, in the long run it would be cheaper than what Wisconsin is going thru.

Finally, if you are set on passing this legislation at least amend it to hold the owners of deer farms or shooting preserves that are found responsible for Bovine TB or CWD financially responsible for all costs in depopulation and clean up of their property.


Respectfully

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