Doug Leier: CWD testing critical for future of ND deer

The state of North Dakota and wildlife managers nationwide take chronic wasting disease very seriously. The more education, information, awareness and understanding the better. It's all hands-on deck.

Last fall, my part was looking for deer heads from roadkill to sample for CWD. Simply understanding the area deer populations and realizing the combination of deer and high-volume traffic would increase the odds of finding a roadkill deer to sample for testing.

It was a clash of emotions realizing every deer collision may have resulted in injury, possibly a totaled vehicle, insurance claims and time better spent than repairing or replacing a vehicle. But those deer heads provided valuable data for the Game and Fish Department surveillance efforts.

Friends, family and hunters became a part of the process by letting me know when and where they had found a roadkill in their travels. While not every report played out, in the end it made a difference.

Noteworthy items include:

State Game and Fish Department officials will conduct surveillance of the state by region on a four-year rotation. This year, the CWD surveillance effort will consist of deer gun units in northeastern North Dakota. Outside of this area, hunters can still have their animal tested by taking it to a Game and Fish district office, any deer head collection site (primarily located in the surveillance area) or by using a mail-in self-sampling kit.

A unit outside the annual surveillance zone is still eligible to have a baiting restriction removed if the sampling goal is met, or can be added as a restricted unit if a positive is found.

If your deer hunting unit is under a chronic wasting disease hunting restriction and you want to know if the deer you've taken had CWD or you are concerned with the future of North Dakota's deer herd, you should make plans to get your deer tested by the Game and Fish Department.

Self-sampling kits are available to hunters who wish to have their animal tested but are unable to drop the head off at a collection site. The kits allow hunters to remove the lymph nodes and ship them to the department's wildlife health lab in Bismarck for testing. A sampling kit request form can be found on the department's website, gf.nd.gov .

Hunters can drop off heads at any of the following locations prior to the deer gun season (more information is at ):

Also note, whole carcasses of animals harvested in North Dakota must remain in the deer unit or may be transported anywhere in the state, but carcass waste must be disposed of via landfill or waste management provider.

This does not apply to heads dropped at CWD collection sites or lymph nodes submitted for CWD surveillance. Taxidermists and game processors can also accept intact carcasses of animals harvested within North Dakota but assume responsibility for disposal.

The full details of CWD rules and regulations are available at .

Doug Leier is a biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.