The Natural Resources Board may take up the controversial issue of a ban on feeding and baiting deer again.
Baiting and feeding is already banned in southern Wisconsin where CWD has been found. Keith Warnke, big game specialist with the DNR, says it's been shown that deer feeding can exacerbate the spread of disease.
The DNR would like to see a statewide ban but it's being fought by hunters, wildlife lovers and feed business owners in other parts of the state. Warnke says there's a tendency not to understand the urgency of the matter when your deer population isn't being threatened by a disease as it is in the southern part of the state.
Warnke says other diseases such as tuberculosis can be spread through deer feeding sites as well.
Warnke says new research since the last ban was attempted four years ago, shows conclusively CWD can be spread through deer saliva and it also shows it's not the amount of food or bait that matters. Any food at all, he says can cause a problem.
Warnke says they all suspect feeding in northern Wisconsin is artificially supporting more deer than the environment can support.
