Wyoming's CWD management plan is approved after a year of collaboration.
Across North America, many states are working hard towards figuring out extensive response plans to combat the ongoing threat of chronic wasting disease or CWD. The Equality State has just announced their long term CWD Management Plan was finally approved by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission.
CWD is an always-fatal neurological disorder that affects deer, elk and moose. Wyoming has all three animals and cases of CWD have been confirmed across the state in recent years.
The WGFD made the big announcement in a press release on their website. The agency says the plan came together after over a year of efforts by a CWD working group that was founded last April. The 31 members of the group were tasked with doing research and coming up with recommendations for the plan.
In making their decisions, the group collected comments from public input periods both written and in person. They also gathered scientific data and looked at different economic and social factors in making their recommendations. They also met multiple times to discuss their findings further in depth.
The full details of the plan have not been revealed yet, but Game and Fish plans to make them public on their website by the end of the month. In the meantime, Commission President Peter Dube praised the plan and the group that helped put it together.
"The CWD plan is a step in the right direction to manage the disease in Wyoming," Dube said in the press release. "It is a living document that we can adjust, adapt and change. It's a controversial subject that the Commission takes very seriously. The process was so large and so many people were involved, and we are grateful for that."
Those thoughts were echoed by Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik, who noted that their new efforts against the disease are going to start right away.
"Chronic wasting disease is a difficult issue. We are meeting the challenge with the best available science, input from the public and the courage to take risks to improve the health of our wildlife," Nesvik said in the release. "I am proud Wyoming is continuing to stand out as a leader in the West - and the country - on CWD management strategies and research."
We will keep an eye on this story and bring you details of what exactly Game and Fish's CWD plan entails once they are made public right here at Wide Open Spaces.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: PETA IS NOW GOING AFTER FISHERMEN
WATCH
