EL DORADO -- In Emon Mahony's final meeting as a member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the commission considered modified proposals to manage the spread of chronic wasting disease among deer and elk while also approving a statewide chronic wasting disease response plan.
The commission will vote on the final proposals in a special meeting June 24.
The Game and Fish Commission's wildlife management division staff presented chronic wasting disease-related regulations to the commission May 19. Since then, the commission has gathered public comments through 11 public meetings, a statewide call-in television show on AETN and an online public survey.
Jeff Crow, the commission's chief of staff, said most of the comments referred to a statewide ban on feeding wildlife.
"We have modified that proposal to only apply to the 10 counties in our proposed CWD management zone," Crow said.
The 10 counties in the proposed chronic wasting disease management zone are Newton, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Madison, Searcy, Johnson, Pope, Logan and Yell.
Using bait to hunt deer in the CWD management zone would be allowed Oct. 1-Dec. 31 under the proposal. Vice chairman Fred Brown of Corning requested that baiting be allowed for at least part of September to accommodate archery hunters.
Food plots will be allowed, as will incidental feeding of wildlife during active livestock operations.
The commission will issue extra deer tags to landowners within the CWD management zone. Hunters using the tags must submit samples of harvested deer for CWD testing.
Deer and elk killed within the CWD management zone cannot leave the zone, except for deboned meat, cleaned skull plates, hides, teeth and taxidermy products.
Another proposal will prohibit scents and lures containing natural deer urine statewide.
The plan will establish a core elk management area consisting of Boone, Carroll, Madison, Newton and Searcy counties. Hunters outside of the core elk management zone may take any elk they see while deer hunting with a limit of one elk of either sex. The commission will also increase the quota on private land elk hunting within the core elk management zone. All elk harvested statewide must be submitted for CWD testing.
Another proposal would create a non-commercial hunting enclosure permit for all high-fence deer facilities. Mahony insisted that the wildlife management division supply all of its data that justify such a requirement.
In fiscal business, the commission approved the 2017 fiscal year budgets for maintenance and operations ($87,960,100), gas lease ($854,960) and the Black River settlement ($2,099,890).
Sports on 06/17/2016