Your Chance To Be Heard
Wisconsin
The DATCP will be holding a public meeting on 7/24/18 in the Loft Room of the Mead Public Library at 710 North 8th. Street in Sheboygan, WI with public input scheduled to be heard at 1:00 p.m. The meeting will be about the status of the DATCP and DNR rulemaking follow-up on the Governor's Executive Order on CWD.
Sportsmen really need to show up for this meeting/hearing, and testify in favor of the proposed DATCP scope statement. Their testimony should be to oppose the game farm interests. The game farm folks will have many attendees there and will offer numerous comments/arguements protecting and promoting their interests.
This is your chance as a public citizen and sportsperson of WI to be heard. Show up, register to speak, and let your comments opinions be heard! If you think the game farm owners should have stricter rules regulating their operations and transportation of live cervids in WI this is your opportunity to voice your opinion. Don't miss it!
Is this the only one in the state?
There have already been other hearings on this (in June). They were much closer to where I live but I was out of state when they were held. At this point in time I do not know if there will be other public meetings on this. If I hear of them, I will post it here. I do plan to attend this meeting and testify. I hope other bowhunters will also.
There should be a link to where you can contact the right staff members that are governing this and give your $0.02 by email.
There isn't a public comment period on the agenda so I don't know that there is a chance for input.
Item Number Eight on the Agenda is "Public Appearances" and this is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (although this time is not listed on the official agenda, I have been told this 1:00 time is solid). "Public Appearances" is the time allotment during which those who wish to speak may speak. Speaking times are limited to five minutes per person. There is, for sure, a time when the public may speak.
You're right. I didn't see it down that far. Usually they are at the beginning of the agenda. Larry Bonde will be speaking on behalf of the Conservation Congress and it sounds like several local Sportsman groups are going. I testified in June but there were an awful lot of deer farm people there.
As a follow up note, if you cannot make the meeting in person the DATCP website notes that “written public comments are welcomed by the DATCP Board as well”. Any emails should be addressed to
[email protected] and she said they should get to her preferably before the end of the day this Friday (7/20/18) if you want them included in the board’s material.
The DATCP Board meeting was held yesterday, and private citizens & those representing groups were given the opportunity to voice their opinion.
25 speakers (mostly deer & elk farm owners & operators) spoke against more stringent rules for game farms and implementation of the emergency rule process.
18 speakers consisting of speakers from the Native American Tribes, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, private citizens, and myself representing the WBH spoke in favor of the proposed more stringent rules and implementation of the emergency rule process.
By the time I left the DATCP Board had not yet voted on the issues at hand.
I am, as of now, unaware if the results have been made public yet.
Too bad more bowhunters and sportsmen did not show up to voice their opinion.
Unfortunately sportsmen don't speak up until well after the fat lady has sung. Then they blame the wrong people.
So I did a little bit more digging on this. There was a study done by The University of Texas on how and if CWD would spread to cows, and other grazing farm animals. Their findings are that it can spread, and it does so through the grass eaten by those animals. So when an animal that is infected by CWD dies and decomposes into the soil that animals proteins latch onto the proteins in the grass. The farm animals eat the grass and they have the potential to be infected. Fast forward to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau testifying, and they are saying that deer and elk farms will not be able to pay for these fences. I have a feeling that the Farm Bureau can see the writing on the wall and it can start with deer farms and slowly move to cattle farms/ farms in general. Just my opinion, but I feel like it is a pretty fair assumption.
I read the article that buckjabber posted and this stuck out in my mind... “The real threat is that this rule will put a vast majority of deer farms out of business simply because they will not be able to absorb the financial burden of putting additional fencing around the existing enclosures,” Kuczer said. “Farmers are facing increased pressure from low market prices all while net farm income is at the lowest level in over a decade.” Then I did just a little digging and found these links to pricing information on a few deer farms.... http://www.wildernesswhitetails.com/pricing http://www.rudolfranch.com/pdfs/price-list-v2.pdf http://tomorrowriverranch.com/book-a-hunt/ https://applecreekwhitetails.com/hunting/#hunting_rates
I know it's expensive to raise animals, even more expensive to make sure your animals don't get loose and infect the animals outside of your fence/property.....
Taxpayers have footed the bill long enough were it comes to deer and elk farming. Remember that it is your tax dollars hard at work when these farms need to be depopulated. If a crop farmer looses his or her crop and can't sell it it's his crop insurance that saves his ass, not the taxpayer....
Pretty sure if I had stock as expensive as deer and elk that are prone to escapes, could be devalued by being breed by wild animals, and are at risk of disease from wild animals, a second fence or electrification would be a no brainier.
Any fence would be a business investment. yes a no brainer...... So would some sort of insurance against the loss of your "livestock".
I did a little checking and found that a lot of the farmers don't give a rat's patootie about insurance. Here is a place that does insure them, but not against "government slaughter diseases" WTF is that???
Archangel Specialty used to offer animal mortality insurance coverage for breeders of whitetail deer, elk, and other cervid species. Their policies protect against loss as a result of all causes of death, with the exception of government slaughter diseases and malicious or willful injury. I do not know if they are stil lin the deer insurance business.
One of their agents posted this
"In addition to malicious or willful injury, our current policy excludes three diseases: CWD, EHD, and "blue tongue". *However, we know from our limited experience in the cervid insurance business that there is demand for coverage against these particular diseases, so we are already giving serious consideration to developing an optional coverage endorsement for the aforementioned exclusions. *This optional endorsement would probably be made available only to our most loyal customers (i.e. those who have insured their deer/elk with us for the "standard" causes of death for at least a year or two)."
One of the ranchers form that site posted this
"I don't claim to be an expert on this stuff. Just that in my opinion insuring deer is a waste of money. I feel the best insurance is a well installed double fence, keeping good vigilance, and a well sighted in rifle. Oh and maybe letting the neighbors know I can be a little "unstable" at times came in handy also"
If that is truly the case then any deer farmer would have no issue with a double fence.....YAH RIGHT!!!
