Fish and Game recognizing CWD Awareness Week

Idaho Fish and Game is recognizing Chronic Wasting Disease Awareness Week, Sept. 23 to 29. The goal is to help hunters, and others who value Idaho’s wildlife, to learn and understand why managing the disease is critical to Idaho’s future, and the role hunters play in it.

Fish and Game State Wildlife Manager Rick Ward sums it up: “I think hunters should be paying attention to CWD because it affects what they love to do, which is to hunt,” Ward said. “We talk a lot about legacy, and how we’re going to manage hunting down the road, and we don’t want CWD to manage hunting for us.”

Fish and Game is trying to slow the spread of CWD and keep the percentage of animals infected as low as possible. CWD is a contagious and fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and moose, and there is no cure or vaccination. CWD can’t be eradicated because it remains in the environment for decades. To learn more about CWD, go to idfg.idaho.gov/cwd.

It was first discovered in Idaho in 2021 in the Slate Creek area between Whitebird and Riggins, and Fish and Game also detected it in Unit 23 last year, and in July in Unit 1 in the Panhandle. 

Effective CWD management requires wildlife managers and hunters to adapt to changing conditions as Fish and Game gathers new information about where the disease is found — and is not found — based on testing. 

Stacey Dauwalter, Fish and Game’s Wildlife Health Program Coordinator said hunters need to think long term about CWD, and actions they take now can affect the future. 

“I would say this disease has direct impacts on Idaho’s hunting heritage, so there may be a lot of conflict and controversy over what we’re trying to do, but what we’re doing now is trying to ensure there’s deer for your grandkids and great grandkids,” she said. 

— Idaho Department of Fish and Game