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94–603 PDF 2005

S. HRG. 108–503

S. 1366, THE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2003,

AND TO CONSIDER VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT

OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE,

AND WATER

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

APRIL 6, 2004

Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works

(
(II)

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman

JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia

CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio

MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho

LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island

JOHN CORNYN, Texas

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado

JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont

MAX BAUCUS, Montana

HARRY REID, Nevada

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut

BARBARA BOXER, California

RON WYDEN, Oregon

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York

ANDREW WHEELER, Majority Staff Director

KEN CONNOLLY, Minority Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, AND WATER

MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho, Chairman

JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

MAX BAUCUS, Montana

RON WYDEN, Oregon

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York
(III)

CONTENTS

Page

APRIL 6, 2004

OPENING STATEMENTS

Allard, Hon. Wayne, U.S. Senator from the State of Colorado ............................ 2

Crapo, Hon. Michael D., U.S. Senator from the State of Idaho ........................... 1

Baucus, Hon. Max, U.S. Senator from the State of Montana, prepared statement ...................................................................................................................... 32

Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma, prepared

statement .............................................................................................................. 31

Feingold, Hon. Russell D., U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin, prepared

statement .............................................................................................................. 32

WITNESSES

Clifford, John, Assistant Deputy Administrator, National Health Policy and

Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC .......................... 6

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 34

Responses to additional questions from:

Senator Feingold ....................................................................................... 35

Senator Allard ........................................................................................... 37

George, Russell, executive director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Washington, DC ..................................................................................... 19

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 44

Groat, Charles G., Director, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the

Interior .................................................................................................................. 7

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 38

Responses to additional questions from:

Senator Allard ........................................................................................... 41

Senator Feingold ....................................................................................... 42

Taylor, Gary J., legislative director, International Association of Fish and

Wildlife Agencies, Washington, DC; accompanied by Tom Thorne, chair,

Fish and Wildlife Health Subcommittee on Chronic Wasting Disease, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies .......................................... 21

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 46

Walther, Jack O., president, American Veterinary Medical Association, Washington, DC ............................................................................................................. 22

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 49

Wolfe, Gary, project leader, Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, Missoula, MT . 24

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 53

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Position statement, American Veterinary Medical Association ........................... 51

Statements:

Bechtel, Richard F., senior legislative representative for wildlife policy,

National Wildlife Federation ....................................................................... 60

Hassett, P. Scott, secretary, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,

Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection .................. 57

Text of bill, S. 1366 .................................................................................................. 62

(1)

S. 1366, THE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2003, AND

TO CONSIDER VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT

OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2004

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, AND WATER,

Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:34 a.m., in room

406, Senate Dirksen Building, Hon. Michael D. Crapo (chairman of

the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Senators Crapo and Allard.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL D. CRAPO,

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO

Senator CRAPO. This hearing will come to order.

This is a hearing on the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife,

and Water of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Today we will be dealing with S. 1366, the Chronic Wasting Disease Financial Assistance Act of 2003, and to consider views on the

subject of chronic wasting disease.

The purpose of this hearing is to be sure that we are doing all

we can to determine the extent of this disease and to manage it.

States and Federal agencies have started on this mission, in some

cases, by diverting existing resources. This shows how seriously all

are taking the threat, but I want to be sure that our efforts are

sustainable.

Chronic wasting disease is a national problem. It has existed in

Colorado and Wyoming for 40 to 50 years and has since been found

in 11 other States and two provinces in Canada. Although CWD is

not yet found in Idaho, my home State, Idaho is bordered by Montana and Wyoming, two States with known positive animals.

CWD poses serious problems for wildlife managers. Surveillance

is costly and draws resources from other wildlife management

needs. Public concerns and perception about human health risks

may degrade hunters’ confidence in their desire to hunt in areas

where CWD occurs. This could have substantial economic implications for States where hunting and wildlife watching contribute significantly.

The lack of understanding of CWD transmission and whether it

can cause disease in humans or other animals is of grave concern.

Management of this disease is hindered, in part, by the fact that
2

testing is not possible on live animals. Due to scheduling conflicts,

Senator Feingold could not testify today. However, I would like to

submit his testimony for the record.

Without objection, so ordered.

[The prepared statement of Senator Feingold may be found on

page 33.]

Senator CRAPO. Today we are going to hear about the status of

existing efforts and a review of a bill that I am proud to cosponsor

with my friend, Senator Allard, Senator Feingold, and Senator

Domenici.

[The prepared statement of Senator Michael D. Crapo follows:]

STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL D. CRAPO, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO

The purpose of this hearing is to make sure we are doing all that we can to determine the extent of this disease and manage it. States and Federal agencies have

started on this mission using—in some cases, diverting—existing resources. This

shows how seriously all are taking the threat, but I want to be sure that our efforts

are sustainable.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a national problem. It has existed in Colorado

and Wyoming for 40 to 50 years and has since been found in 11 other states and

two provinces in Canada.

Although CWD is not found in Idaho yet, it is bordered by Montana and Wyoming, two states with known positive animals.

CWD poses serious problems for wildlife managers. Surveillance is costly and

draws resources from other wildlife management needs.

Public concerns and perceptions about human health risks may degrade hunters

confidence and their desire to hunt in areas where CWD occurs. This could have

substantial economic implications for states where hunting and wildlife watching

contribute significantly.

The lack of understanding of CWD transmission and whether it can cause disease

in humans or other animals is of concern.

Management of this disease is hindered in part by the fact testing is not possible

on live animals.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Senator Feingold could not testify today. However, I

would like to submit his testimony for the record.

Today we will hear about the status of existing efforts and review a bill that I

am proud to cosponsor with my friends, Senator Allard, Senator Feingold, and Senator Domenici.

Senator CRAPO. With that, we will turn to you, Senator Allard,

for your opening statement.

OPENING STATEMENT OF WAYNE ALLARD, U.S. SENATOR

FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO

Senator ALLARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have spoken out strongly that we must deal with chronic wasting disease, also known as CWD. It gives me great pleasure to

work with you. I appreciate your willingness to get involved in both

bills before us today and for holding this hearing.

I would like to welcome all the witnesses here today. I sincerely

appreciate the opportunity to learn more about the more recent developments in research, management, and the eradication of this

disease.

I extend a special welcome to my friend, Russell George from

Colorado, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. I welcome you to the subcommittee, Director. Your

expertise and leadership on this matter will provide tremendous insight to the members of this subcommittee and those listening

today.
3

In 1967, one year before I received my Doctorate of Veterinary

Medicine at Colorado State University, scientists just a few miles

up the road were grappling with a strange, new wasting disease

that had decimated their deer population. The discovery launched

researchers at the foothills campus into the field of prion research,

a heretofore unknown field of science that even today little is

known about.

Three decades later, tragically chronic wasting disease was discovered outside the fences of the campus in both wild and captive

cervid populations. As scientists work to unravel the mystery of the

folded proteins, State departments of resources and agriculture

scramble to get a handle on the spread of the disease.

For agriculture, chronic wasting disease posed difficult problems

for the captive deer and elk farming industry. For resource managers, the disease posed grave consequences for the wild cervid

population, as well as to communities across the United States

whose economies depended on deer and elk hunting.

In an all-out attack against the disease, tens of thousands of animals were destroyed. In the meantime, State wildlife management

of budgets were quickly depleted as the demands of testing and

eradication siphoned off millions of unbudgeted dollars. A perfect

example: In just 2 years in Colorado, chronic wasting disease funding jumped from $700,000 to $4 million.

While there was never any doubt that the States retained undisputed primacy over wildlife, the economic and scientific demands

forced them to turn to the Federal Government for assistance. The

financial strain of management efforts, coupled with the unique scientific demands, assure a limited role for the Federal Government.

Through the Department of Agriculture’s emergency powers, millions of dollars were provided for culling and indemnification. The

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Agriculture Research

Service, and the U.S. Geological Service reacted to the need for

chronic wasting disease research and management funding through

their yearly budget processes.

As the level of involvement at Interior and Agriculture increased,

it became quite clear that a coordinated plan was needed to prevent duplication of services and research, improve communication,

and streamline Federal efforts with more direction. A task force

convened and a plan emerged. Unfortunately, the plan has never

been finalized, and no reason has been provided as to why it never

reached final approval. The plan contained funding estimates and

needs. To date, despite congressional mandates, the plan remains

on the shelf collecting dust.

Nor have the Agencies presented specific reasons to Congress

that the efforts that they are undertaking and the funding that

they are requesting are in line with the plan. Without a funding

plan from the Federal Government, especially one that included

grants for CWD research, monitoring, and control, the States continue to suffer financially.

In two separate hearings before the House Resources Committee,

State officials made it very clear that additional resources were

needed regardless of the plan’s status. As a result, I, along with

Senators Campbell, Crapo, Feingold, and several other colleagues,

introduced S. 1036 and S. 1366. S. 1036 deals with the layers of
4

Federal CWD responsibility and S. 1366 deals with State and tribal

funding for research, monitoring, and eradication of the disease.

During this morning’s testimony, I will be listening for ways to

improve S. 1366 so that we can put in place a reliable funding

mechanism that will allow the States an opportunity to secure the

funding they need, while hopefully preventing a parade of congressional earmarks for CWD through the appropriations process.

I also believe that S. 1366 is important because without it there

is no incentive to keep money dedicated to chronic wasting disease.

Your input and support of this bill is critical. The States desperately need assistance. We have waited far long enough to provide them with it.

As we discuss various agency and departmental roles, I will also

be listening for ways that the Government is implementing the yetto-be-released CWD implementation plan. How are current plans

aligning with the implementation strategy? Is money being spent

as the plan suggested? How do budget requests reflect the suggested budget amounts in the implementation document? Through

the task force, have the Agencies achieved a level of cooperation

and communication needed in order to avoid duplication of services,

responsibilities, and research?

This hearing is also important because it provides a forum and

platform for subject experts to provide the latest updates on CWD.

How has the disease changed? Are monitoring efforts working?

What does the best available science indicate about the continued

spread and transmissibility of the disease? If CWD is more prominent in the buck, how does this impact the gene pool?

Finally, this hearing is important because of the implications

that CWD has on the economy. Colorado’s resource-based Western

Slope was heavily dependent on deer and elk hunting, a $599 million industry to the region.

Nationally, if chronic wasting disease were to become endemic it

could create severe problems for game management and producers.

It could potentially cost the national economy $100 billion, according to Andrew Sidelin, associate professor at Colorado State University. A strong coordinated front against the disease will prevent

a devastating blow to wildlife and the economy.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to hearing from the

witnesses and continuing to work with you.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much. We appreciate your attention to this issue, Senator Allard.

[The prepared statement of Senator Allard follows:]

STATEMENT OF HON. WAYNE ALLARD, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO

In 1967, one year before I received my Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, scientists just a few miles up the road were

grappling with a strange new ‘wasting’ disease that had decimated their deer population. The discovery launched researchers on the foothills campus into the field of

prion research, a heretofore-unknown field of science about which, even today, little

is known. Three decades later, tragically, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was discovered outside the fences of the CSU campus, in both wild and captive cervid populations.

As scientists worked to unravel the mystery of the folded protein, several States’

departments of resources and agriculture scrambled to get a handle on the spread

of the disease. For agriculture, CWD posed difficult problems for the captive deer

and elk farming industry. For resource managers, the disease threatened grave consequences for the wild cervid population as well as for communities across the
5

United States whose economies depend on deer and elk hunting. In an all-out attack

against the disease, tens of thousands of animals were destroyed. In the meantime,

State wildlife management budgets were quickly depleted as the demands of testing

and eradication siphoned off millions of un-budgeted dollars. A perfect example: in

just 2 years in Colorado, CWD funding jumped from $700,000 to $4 million.

While there was never any doubt that the states retained undisputed primacy

over wildlife, the economic and scientific demands forced them to turn to the Federal Government for assistance. The financial strain of management efforts coupled

with the unique scientific demands assure a limited role for the Federal Government. Through the Department of Agriculture emergency powers, millions of dollars

were provided for culling and indemnification. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Agriculture Research Service and the U.S. Geological Service, reacted

to the need for CWD research and management funding through their yearly budget

processes.

As the level of involvement at Interior and Agriculture increased, it became quite

clear that a coordinating plan was needed to prevent duplication of services and research, improve communication and streamline Federal efforts. A task force convened and a plan emerged. Unfortunately, the plan has never been finalized and

no reason has been provided as to why it has never received final approval. The

plan contained funding estimates and needs. To date, despite Congressional mandates, the plan remains on the shelf collecting dust. Nor have the agencies presented specific reasons to Congress that the efforts they are undertaking (and the

funding they are requesting) are in line with the plan.

Without a funding plan from the Federal Government—especially one that included grants for CWD research, monitoring and control—the States continued to

suffer financially. In two separate hearings before the House Resources Committee,

State officials made it very clear that additional resources were needed, regardless

of the plan’s status. As a result, I, along with Senators Campbell, Crapo, Feingold,

and several other colleagues, introduced S. 1036 and S. 1366. S. 1036 deals with the

layers of Federal CWD responsibility and S. 1366 deals with State and tribal funding for research, monitoring and eradication of the disease.

During this morning’s testimony, I will be listening for ways to improve S. 1366

so that we can put in place a reliable funding mechanism that will allow the States

an opportunity to secure the funding they need, while I hope to prevent a parade

of Congressional earmarks for CWD through the appropriations process. I also believe S. 1366 is important because without it, there is no incentive to keep money

dedicated to Chronic Wasting Disease. The States desperately need assistance and

we have waited far long enough to provide them with it.

This hearing is vitally important because of the impact CWD has on the economy.

Colorado’s resource-based western slope is heavily dependant on deer and elk hunting, a $599 million industry in the region. If Chronic Wasting Disease were to become endemic, it could create severe problems for game management and producers

on a nationwide scale, potentially costing the U.S. $100 billion, according to Andrew

Seidl, an associate professor at Colorado State University. A strong, coordinated

front against the disease will prevent a devastating blow to wildlife and the economy.

Senator CRAPO. Our first panel today will be Dr. John Clifford,

the Assistant Deputy Administrator of the National Animal Health

Policy and Programs at the USDA, and Mr. Chip Groat, Director

of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA.

Gentlemen, and to the rest of the witnesses who will testify in

our second panel, I want to remind you that we have a time clock.

If you are like me and most other witnesses, the clock will run out

before you have finished saying everything you have to say. I encourage you to pay attention to the clock, though, because we need

to maintain our schedule.

Senator Allard and I want to have an opportunity to engage in

dialog with you. If you do not get through everything you wanted

to say in your initial 5 minutes, you will have plenty of opportunity

during the questions and answers to supplement what you have to

say.

Your written testimony has been entered in the record in its entirety. It has been reviewed thoroughly by us. We appreciate your
6

summarizing it in the 5-minutes allotted for your initial presentation. If you do forget the clock, I will lightly rap the gavel up here

to remind you to watch it and encourage you to wrap up as quickly

as you can when your time does expire.

With that, we will go ahead.

Dr. Clifford, please proceed.

STATEMENT OF JOHN CLIFFORD, ASSISTANT DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL ANIMAL HEALTH POLICY AND PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON,

DC

Mr. CLIFFORD. Thank you, Senator Crapo.

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you

again for the opportunity to speak on behalf of USDA about chronic

wasting disease. CWD is a transmissible spongiform

encephalopathy of deer and elk, in the same family of disease as

bovine spongiform encephalopathy and scrapie.

It has been diagnosed in farmed elk and deer herds in eight

States. CWD has also been identified in free-ranging deer and elk

in areas of Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The origin and mode of

transmission of CWD are unknown.

To ensure a coordinated and cooperative Federal approach to assisting States, a task force, including USDA, the Department of the

Interior, along with universities and State wildlife management

and agricultural agencies, drafted the plan for assisting States,

Federal agencies, and tribes in managing CWD in wild and captive

cervids. The plan was shared with Congress in June 2002. The national plan’s components include action items for surveillance,

diagnostics, and research, among other things.

All agencies have been working together as budgets allow to implement the plan. From fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2005,

the President’s budget, Department funding for CWD has increased

by 41 percent from $16.4 million to $23.1 million. In fiscal year

2004, USDA-APHIS received $18.5 million which, after congressional earmarks, is being divided roughly equally between the captive cervid program and assistance with addressing CWD in wild

deer and elk.

An additional $3.2 million was provided for USDA research activity in 2004 for a total of $21.7 million. The fiscal year 2005 budget

includes $23.1 million, of which $20.1 million is for APHIS, and $3

million is for research. However, funding decisions must be made

on an annual basis, taking into consideration resource constraints

and the many program needs that compete for these resources.

In January, a working group, composed of many of the same people that put the national plan together held a progress meeting in

St. Louis. This working group is currently compiling a CWD

progress report. By examining each action item set forth in the national plan the progress report highlights accomplishments and further needs. In addition to working with other agencies on CWD,

USDA is moving ahead to address CWD in both captive and wild

deer and elk populations.

We are continuing the development and implementations of its

national voluntary certification program to eliminate CWD from
7

farm cervids. On December 24, 2003, we published a proposed rule

on the certification program. We received 120 comments on those

and are evaluating those comments now. We anticipate publishing

a final rule soon with a goal of implementing the program by the

end of this year.

Our goal is nothing less than the eradication of the disease in the

farm cervid population. We also are assisting tribes in dealing with

the wildlife aspects of the disease. USDA plans to make approximately $5.75 million available to tribal nations and State wildlife

agencies for this purpose.

The funding will be distributed via cooperative agreements according to a formula initially developed in conjunction with the

International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and

through a cooperative agreement with the Native American Fish

and Wildlife Society, regional tribal biologists have also been hired

to help improve CWD surveillance on tribal lands.

Our Wildlife Service Program has been assisting State wildlife

agencies with their activities. Our personnel have assisted with the

harvesting of wild deer in Illinois and Wisconsin, and both deer

and elk in Colorado for CWD testing. Additionally, we have assisted State wildlife agencies in collecting CWD samples from

hunter-harvested deer at check stations in 10 States.

Our Center for Veterinary Biologics continues to approve new diagnostic test kits for CWD. Currently, there are four tests that

have been approved. These diagnostic test kits are only available

to APHIS-approved laboratories contracted for CWD disease surveillance, and are only licensed for use in wild deer and elk.

The immunohistochemistry remains the internationally recognized method of choice for testing for TSEs and is being used for

confirmation of positives as well as surveillance in captive deer and

elk.

Research in the area of CWD has continued as well. Our National Wildlife Research Center is researching the possibility of

CWD vaccines, as well as to identify improved barriers and

repellents to keep wild deer and elk separated from captive herds

and other livestock.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would ask that my complete testimony be included in the record in its entirety.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection, so ordered.

Thank you very much. I see that you noticed the clock very carefully. We will pursue the rest of your testimony with you in questions and answers.

Mr. Groat.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES G. GROAT, DIRECTOR,

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, RESTON, VA

Mr. GROAT. Thank you, Senator.

It is a pleasure to be here to present some views of the Department of the Interior on your proposed legislation and on CWD in

general. The Department continues to be concerned with the current and future effects of chronic wasting disease on free-ranging

deer and elk, which is where the Department of the Interior’s expertise is focused.
8

We support strongly the concept embodied in these bills, particularly the recognition and facilitation of the key role that State wildlife management agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations play in the struggle with the disease.

While we recognize that States, particularly, and others have a

preeminent role, we also recognize, as do they, to successfully combat CWD is going to take a joint effort and a collaborative approach

among the States, Federal agencies, universities, and other organizations. Using this approach, the Department of the Interior is conducting research into the biology and management of the disease.

We provide wildlife-related laboratory services. We offer technical

advice and assistance to the partners. We work closely in cooperation with the States.

In fiscal year 2004, the Department of the Interior has com- mitted $4 million, which is up from $3 million, to investigate and

combat the chronic wasting disease. These funds were used by the

USGS and to expand research and deliver technical assistance and

pertinent biological information about the disease to both Federal

agencies and the States.

Over the past year, the Department has embarked on an aggressive program of research into the biology of CWD, its hosts, and its

transmission pathways. In addition, the USGS and its partners are

working to develop methods needed to identify diseased animals

before the designs of the disease are apparent.

During fiscal years 2000 and 2004, the USGS committed a total of $2.7 million to the Chronic Wasting Disease Program. The Fish

and Wildlife Service has been assisting the States in CWD monitoring and surveillance, a key part of the program, as it develops

field guidelines at a national level for coordinated monitoring and

surveillance. These guidelines are being designed collaboratively

with the States to help determine CWD distribution and movement.

As an example of the commitment to cooperate with the States,

USGS has recently developed a program to work cooperatively with

six States affected with CWD—Colorado, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah. The $300,000 has helped to initiate projects that will develop crucial information on issues ranging from deer movements and the ecology of therapeutic agents.

In December 2002, we coordinated an effort with State, Federal,

and university partners to develop a strategy to assist in the development of surveillance programs. This document, ‘‘Surveillance

Strategies for Detecting Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging

Deer and Elk’’ represents another important part of the cooperative

effort.

Let me close with some comments, as did Dr. Clifford, on the status of the plans and proposed legislation. I concur with what Dr.

Clifford said about the implementation program. While, as you

pointed out, Senator Allard, that program sits on a shelf somewhere as far as formal approval, the review that took place with

the States and Federal partners does do a decent job of portraying

where things are because we have not sat still and waited for that

plan to be approved.

We have moved within available funding to carry out the key elements of that plan. I think you will find when that progress report
9

is released, some very useful information in terms of the effort on

each part, as well as the dollars that are needed to carry out the

efforts that the plan portrays.

Both pieces of legislation that you referenced include grant structure which, to some degree, does duplicate structural capabilities

already existing at least in the Department of the Interior. However, the funding is, in any grant program whether it is new or old,

a key part of getting this work done.

As Dr. Clifford pointed out, the efforts that are ongoing have had

a significant commitment of funding in the Department of Agriculture and, to a degree, we have funds available as well. But I

think we would both concur that more funding is going to be needed to carry that out.

We think the concepts of the legislation are sound. What you

have intended the money to support are sound. We are particularly

supportive of the modeling program in S. 1036. I think that is going

to be a key part of understanding the patterns and migration of the

disease, and also the development of a national data repository so

we can all share in information about the disease among State and

Federal agencies.

Finally, you said a key word, Senator Allard, and I think we say

it often in connection with CWD, and that is ‘‘unknown.’’ We know

so little about this disease. We know very little about how the disease itself works and the work that Agriculture is doing on the nature of the disease and its characteristics is critical, but also the

ecology of the disease, as it relates to free-ranging herds.

The natural environment and its impacts, the transmittal of the

disease, mechanisms and patterns, the habitat effects, the life cycle

and early detection are all things in which much more work is

needed. Many people are working very hard on it. We have a long

way to go, Senator. I do not think there will be any quick fix. Unless the kind of sustained efforts that you support in your legislation are there, we will not get there.

So we endorse the concepts the legislation put forward. We look

forward to continuing the collaborative effort among States, Federal agencies, and NGO’s to deal with this tragic disease.

Thank you. I would ask that my complete testimony be included

in the record in its entirety.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection, so ordered.

Thank you very much, Mr. Groat.

I will ask a couple of questions first before turning it over to Senator Allard.

This is to either of the two of you. Explain to me in a little more

detail the difference between the national plan, which was presented to Congress in June 2002, and the implementation document which was dated October 2002.

Mr. GROAT. I will make one comment, Senator. The progress plan

that was referred to tracks the actual plan itself. It is, in effect, to

see how implementation is proceeding along each of the elements.

There are discrete parts of that plan. So it does report efforts and

dollars that are currently being spent.

Senator CRAPO. That is the implementation document?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, I would concur with Mr. Groat on that. That

is exactly what we are doing.
10

Senator CRAPO. So basically you are just tracking the national

plan step-by-step to assure its implementation?

Mr. CLIFFORD. There may be some variations because APHIS

had initially already started before this activity started with the

captive cervid program. So that program and those dollars both

track that plan. We spend about half our dollars on that and half

on the wildlife. There may be small variations in that.

Senator ALLARD. Mr. Chairman, he used ‘‘captive cervid program.’’ Are you talking just about farming cervids or are you talking about cervids that are also used in research?

They are also captive. Is there a distinction?

Mr. CLIFFORD. I am talking about farm cervids.

Senator ALLARD. OK.

Senator CRAPO. How closely, and again to either of you, has the

Administration’s budget followed the budget in the implementation

plan? In other words, has the Administration provided the necessary budget dollars that the plan contemplates?

Mr. CLIFFORD. In my opinion, it follows it pretty close.

Mr. GROAT. I would say in our part the money that we spend

tracks the needs in the plan as far as the Department of the Interior has capabilities to do them. On the other hand, I saw a draft

of the plan which talked about a total need over 3 years of something over $100 million to support the effort. Of course, we are not

coming anywhere close as far as the amounts of money that they

feel are necessary.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Senator Allard.

Senator ALLARD. On the finalization of the plan, why hasn’t

OMB finalized it? I want to be clear on that. It is sitting over there

in OMB; is that not the understanding?

Mr. CLIFFORD. I do not know that I can speak to that, Senator.

Mr. GROAT. That is my understanding, Senator. I think because

it involves both Federal and State agencies, and because it is Federal involved, the OMB is taking a look at it. I am not sure what

the reasons are for where it is.

Senator ALLARD. It involves both agencies. Have they come and

ask you about input or anything like that?

Mr. CLIFFORD. There have been questions that we have responded to, yes, to OMB.

Mr. GROAT. There have been questions to the Budget Office.

Senator ALLARD. Are there differences between the two agencies?

Is that why OMB cannot act on it?

Mr. CLIFFORD. I do not know, Senator; not that I know of.

Mr. GROAT. I do not either, Senator. I cannot respond to that.

Senator ALLARD. As far as you know, you do not differ on any

of the issues that would be in that plan?

Mr. CLIFFORD. No, sir.

Senator ALLARD. OK.

Mr. CLIFFORD. We were all at the table to help put it together.

Senator ALLARD. OK. On APHIS and the Department of Agriculture and what not, there is a veterinary role ordinarily when

animals are shipped interstate.

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir.
11

Senator ALLARD. There are health certificates that a private

practitioner would write. When we fill out that health certificate,

we become an agent for the state of origin. Do many States require

health certificates on farm cervid?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir; they do. A number of the States do.

Senator ALLARD. Is there an exemption on research cervid, or do

those same rules and regulations apply to research cervid?

Mr. CLIFFORD. There can be certain exemptions. As far as interstate movement, then that would be coordinated with both the receiving State as well as the State that is moving. Plus, we would

have to meet the Federal requirements as well.

Senator ALLARD. But a health certificate is not necessarily required on a research cervid?

Mr. CLIFFORD. It would probably move on a health certificate,

Senator.

Senator ALLARD. The fish and wildlife agencies do move cervids

around some; I would assume?

Mr. GROAT. Are you talking about the State agencies,

Senator Senator ALLARD. Yes.

Mr. GROAT. I am not certain of how they would do that.

Senator ALLARD. I would assume they would. When you move

your cervids around, are you required to have a health certificate?

How do you know the animals are healthy when you move them

around? That is my question, basically.

Mr. GROAT. From the Department of the Interior’s perspective, I

am not sure I know the answer to that, Senator.

Perhaps one of the State people on the next panel could answer

that.

Senator ALLARD. OK. Maybe it is something that needs to be

checked out.

States that do not have chronic wasting disease within their borders, how are these States been notified there is a problem? I notice Idaho did not get mentioned and they have a pretty viable deer

and elk population in that State. Have States like Idaho put provisions in their animal import rules that would say, ‘‘Well, if you are

coming from a state of origin, you need to have a health certificate’’

because if a veterinarian, for example, wrote a health certificate in

Colorado, I would look at Idaho’s regulations. If they do not say a

health certificate is required on a cervid, I would say, ‘‘Well, there

is no requirement. Go ahead and just transport it.’’

Mr. CLIFFORD. Senator Allard, the new regulation that we will

be implementing soon will address the issue for captive as well as

wild cervids. Wild cervids from known endemic areas would not be

able to be moved to interstate commerce.

Senator ALLARD. That is my question. Very good. OK.

On the funding for the chronic wasting disease, in the Department of Agriculture you are doing much of the research, basically?

Right? I am just trying to figure in my mind how this breaks down

between the Agencies.

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir. The USGS as well as doing research.

Senator ALLARD. They are doing some research. But I would

think most of the research coordination would be through your

Agency. They would be more on surveillance of wildlife, and what

not. For example, in Colorado we have certain areas where we re-
12

quire head collections from hunters. Then you go ahead and test

the head. Then we get the report back within a relatively short period of time. It has been shorter here lately. But it has been an

issue because hunters do not like to sit around and wait for days

and days to get results. They like to have the results very quickly.

Is that how that is breaking down between the Fish and Wildlife

and the Department of Agriculture?

Mr. GROAT. Well, from the Fish and Wildlife Service, Geological

Survey prospect, we do focus on issues related to free-ranging

herds. So, for example, the life cycle of the disease, what are possible hosts and paths of transmission in the natural environment

related to wildlife population. So we parallel some of the things

that are going on in Agriculture, but specifically as it applies to

free-ranging populations.

Senator ALLARD. OK. I think surveillance would be an important

issue as far as you are concerned.

Mr. GROAT. Certainly.

Senator ALLARD. And working with the State Fish and Wildlife

agency would be important. Do you do any surveillance?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Senator Allard, half of our budget goes to surveillance activities to the States for wildlife surveillance.

Senator ALLARD. Is there duplication on the surveillance?

Mr. CLIFFORD. No, sir.

Senator ALLARD. You just do surveillance on domestic herds and

they would on the wild herds?

Mr. CLIFFORD. We focus on both, sir. Half of our budget is that

we coordinate with the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and develop cooperative agreements with the State

natural resource agency and provide dollars for them for the surveillance in the wild cervid industry. We also support that through

laboratory testing as well. So over half of our dollars go to that.

There is no duplication on the side of Interior and USDA on those

issues.

Senator ALLARD. As far as research is concerned, the only area

where it seems like we have made much progress is this. How is

it that you dispose of infected tissues or potentially infected tissues? I know that the Colorado State University has developed a

digester system that apparently is pretty effective in eliminating

prions and what not, from what I have been told. There has been

some research, but other than that we are not finding out much

about method of transmissibility or much about the disease other

than just that. Maybe that should be the first priority.

Where do you think we are going to go from here now as far as

research is concerned?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Well, ARS, plus our Wildlife Services Division are

both doing research in this area. ARS is looking at the pathogenicity of the disease. Hopefully we can make progress on that area

soon. I mean, that is definitely what is needed with regard to disposal. We have three disposal methods that will vary from State

to State. We are working with EPA and others on the approval of

three, that is, approved land fills, incineration, and the tissue digesters.
13

Senator ALLARD. From any evidence that you have gained so far,

there is no evidence of transmissibility between species of the

transmissible spongiform encephalopathies; is that correct?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Are you including them all?

Senator ALLARD. Yes. Well, I guess the one exception would be

BSE in humans.

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, in humans in the European population. I

think that is important to make that distinction. Just in the European population.

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, correct.

Senator ALLARD. We have had testimony that it is a little different variety. Other than for that, as far as you know, there is no

transmissibility between species?

Mr. CLIFFORD. As far as scrapie, no, and as far as chronic wasting disease, not to our knowledge at this time.

Senator ALLARD. Very good.

Mr. GROAT. Senator, I think one of the biggest challenges in the

natural environment is understanding the pathways of the disease,

the residence in soils, the residence in intermediate hosts, and the

methods of transmittal. Other than brute force inoculations in the

brains, it has been very difficult to see those patterns develop and

what causes those patterns.

As I said earlier, I think we have a long way to go, but we have

to get there if we are going to understand this disease.

Senator ALLARD. I agree. I think there needs to be much research on the nature of the prion. We just do not know.

Mr. Chairman, I think my time has expired. I have more questions, but I will turn back.

Senator CRAPO. Well, I will ask another couple of questions and

then we can have another round if you have more questions.

Senator ALLARD. All right.

Senator CRAPO. Dr. Clifford, in your testimony, you indicated

with regard to S. 1366 that because the Department is already administering funds essentially in the way that the bill implies it

should be done, that the legislation is not necessary. Could you

elaborate on that a little bit?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Basically, as I stated earlier, we are working

through IAFWA to provide funds to the States for the surveillance

activities now in the wildlife components. That is already being

done through APHIS-USDA.

Senator CRAPO. So rather than establishing a new grants program, basically the solution that we need is simply to have higher

appropriations of dollars for these purposes to the Agency? Is that

basically the position you take?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Well, yes. The President’s budget had an increase

for 2005 of $1.4 million; yes.

Senator ALLARD. Can I followup on that a little bit, Mr. Chairman?

Senator CRAPO. Certainly.

Senator ALLARD. So you say you already have a program now

where you can bring money into research for chronic wasting disease. But it is pretty much left up to the discretion of the Agency.

If we had authorizing legislation, it would set up a line item, and

then when the money got appropriated, it would be more apt to be
14

allocated just for chronic wasting disease and you would not have

the discretion in the Agency. That is basically the difference; correct? Did I go through that too fast?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Well, I mean we utilize all this money from chronic wasting disease, Senator. So I am not sure——

Senator ALLARD. Oh, I have no doubt that you do. But you pull

it out of a general pot of money that you have available; right? It

is available for your research?

Mr. CLIFFORD. No, sir; this is a line item.

Senator ALLARD. It is a line item that specifically says for chronic

wasting disease in your Department?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir; CWD.

Senator ALLARD. Is that true in the Department of the Interior?

Mr. CLIFFORD. No, sir. Our granting mechanisms are more general than that. So the mechanisms are there but they are not specifically for chronic wasting disease.

Senator ALLARD. So as far as the Agriculture budget is concerned, that is line itemed. You take a little different approach.

Now, on the Department of the Interior, then, it is not line itemed

and that money is a little more fungible as far as the Department

is concerned.

Mr. GROAT. It is to some degree. In our research budget, for example, there is chronic wasting disease research spelled out as a

line. That is pretty clear. But as far as the granting mechanisms

is concerned, that is discretionary within the money made available.

Senator CRAPO. Mr. Groat, those grant mechanisms are administered through the Fish and Wildlife Service; is that correct?

Mr. GROAT. The principal ones are, although the USGS, through

cooperative agreements, has provided money to State agencies and

universities for research using that mechanism. But the principal

means of getting support to the States for this purpose is through

the Fish and Wildlife Service, yes.

Senator CRAPO. Well, I note that in your testimony as well, you

indicate that the grant programs authorized by S. 1366 appear to

be duplicative of that which the Fish and Wildlife Service already

administers. I will followup on what Senator Allard was proposing

here.

If the legislation were enacted such that there were specific line

item appropriation dollars for these purposes, would that assist in

making certain that we had the adequate resources to the grant

programs, or do you have any problem getting those resources

there now?

Mr. GROAT. Well, to be honest, Senator, I think any grant program is subject to what the most important issues of the day are,

and they might change. So there is no guarantee that existing

grant mechanisms or contract mechanisms would focus on chronic

wasting disease.

On the other hand, the statement I made about the existing

mechanisms were just that they were there. I was not intending to

imply that they were there and were already doing in a regular

way what you are intending to do with the bill, which is to make

sure that money goes specifically for chronic wasting disease.
15

I think some other aspects of the legislation does do a good job,

as we said, and support the idea of pointing out needs that are

there, for example, modeling programs, national information systems, and those sorts of things that the bill would empower that

are not currently spelled out in anything that is legislatively enacted.

On the other hand, the implementation plan does point out those

things as major elements. If we, being the Federal Agencies, and

the States follow that plan, then we will be doing the right thing.

The question is: Will the money be going in the right place to get

it done? I think that is one of the things that you are trying to address.

Senator CRAPO. In that regard, again in your testimony you indicate that the USGS is already developing a prototype wildlife disease information network that will include a CWD national data

repository for scientific, technical, and geospatial information.

S. 1036 contemplates the establishment of modeling, surveillance

and monitoring programs as a national internet-based repository of

information.

Are we duplicating in S. 1036 or is S. 1036 going to be able to

supplement and strengthen the efforts of USGS?

Mr. GROAT. Senator, I do not think it is duplicating. I think what

it is doing, and I think it is good news, is that it is recognizing the

importance of that activity. So some of the things that we have

started through our NBII program, for example, and some of the

discussions that we have had with Agriculture and with the States

about the need for the national modeling surveillance and then the

information system is something we are all in agreement on. This

legislation points out the importance of that and would have the

effect of empowering something that is already underway.

So is it duplicative in fact that something is already going on?

Yes, but it gives it some incentive to proceed.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you. Dr. Clifford, do you agree?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, within USDA we have our own data base

system where we collect data and information that is already there

from a domestic disease standpoint. We typically do not collect and

keep that much data on the wildlife side. We definitely agree that

this would not be duplicative.

We would add summary data from our generic data base to the

USGS data base on the captive side.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you. That concludes my questions.

Senator Allard, do you have further questions?

Senator ALLARD. Yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I guess we need to ask you both just this one basic question.

Do both of you support S. 1036 and S. 1366, as currently drafted?

Mr. CLIFFORD. For S. 1366, on the USDA side, as we stated in

our testimony, we already have the things in place with regard to

the funding for the States on the wildlife surveillance.

With the other bill, again I think we already have the authorities

we need to be able to carry out this program.

Senator ALLARD. So you do not think they are necessary?

Mr. CLIFFORD. No, sir.

Senator ALLARD. What about you, Mr. Groat?
16

Mr. GROAT. Senator, I think the Department’s position was more

specifically aimed at the funding mechanisms, feeling that those

could be used to accomplish what you are intending to carry out

with the bill. There was no position taken on whether the other aspects that you are pointing out need to be done, and were unnecessary as such.

So the Department did not take a position in opposition to the

bill in any way. We support the concept. We just felt that there was

some duplication through the funding mechanism.

Senator ALLARD. OK. Are there some suggestions on improving

the legislation that you might make?

Mr. GROAT. Well, I think the degree to which the legislation can

reflect upon the implementation plan and the progress that has

been made as a way of updating it would be helpful. Not knowing

what that final progress report is going to say, I could not tell you

what that is, but I think the progress report does detail that there

are things being done along the lines that your bill indicates. There

may be some things you may want to add or even modify based on

that because that does truly reflect how the whole community

feels—State, Federal, and NGO’s.

Senator ALLARD. OK. I think it was you, Dr. Clifford, who talked about some budget figures. You said $20.1 million; is that what you

have in your budget?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir.

Senator ALLARD. Is that for surveillance? Is that what that is

for?

Mr. CLIFFORD. That is for both the surveillance and the wildlife,

as well as the captive program.

Senator ALLARD. So when you say ‘‘surveillance in the wildlife,’’

is that surveillance in farm cervids?

Mr. CLIFFORD. No, sir.

Senator ALLARD. It is the whole ball of wax?

Mr. CLIFFORD. About half of that money, about half of that $20

million would be used for wildlife surveillance, not captive, not

farm raised, but the wildlife.

Senator ALLARD. Now they are doing surveillance over here in

the fish and wildlife in the wild. Is there a duplication between

that surveillance function and the surveillance function that is happening over there?

Mr. CLIFFORD. I do not know how much money that DOI gives

to the States to support actual surveillance activities. Half of our

budget goes directly to the States through cooperative agreements

and through support at the laboratories for the actual test and

doing the actual surveillance of wildlife, which is not untypical for

USDA with regards to wildlife components and other diseases as

well.

Senator ALLARD. The surveillance on the Interior Fish and Wildlife side, that is for your own personal surveillance and is not necessarily grants to the States for them to do surveillance; do I have

that right?

Mr. GROAT. There is funding that goes to the States to support,

as we did with the handbook, development of surveillance processes

and techniques. So included in money going to the States is money

for that.
17

Senator ALLARD. So it is the development of process and techniques. Basically it is research related to surveillance procedures?

Mr. GROAT. We are focusing more on that; yes, sir.

Senator ALLARD. So then most of the money at the Department

of Agriculture on that goes to the States.

You have $3 million out of your budget that goes to research?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir.

Senator ALLARD. And how much out of yours?

Mr. GROAT. Our total funding in 2004 for chronic wasting disease

in the Department of the Interior was $4 million. Of that, $1.3 million that the U.S. Geological Survey spends is for research. So that

is not the maximum because some of the other goes to aspects that

are research, but it is a small amount.

Senator ALLARD. Between both of you, that is about $4.2 million

for research. Is that adequate?

Mr. GROAT. I come from a research organization, Senator, and research organizations are never allowed to say it is adequate. There

is always more work that needs to be done.

[Laughter.]

Mr. GROAT. But as I said earlier, I think the unknowns of this

disease are so critical and so important that one way to accelerate

progress is for more money and another is to have the teams work

together as effectively as possible. So I think more of both is needed.

Senator ALLARD. Well, how much research in the Department of

Agriculture is going on for just prion diseases, like scrapie, and

mad cow disease. We really cannot do mad cow disease in the

United States unless we do it at Plum Island, I suppose. There are

cases of scrapie in the States?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, there is.

Senator ALLARD. So I assume that kind of prion research gets

done here on the mainland.

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes.

Senator ALLARD. Would you make a comment on prion research

and the Department of Agriculture? Does that duplicate in with

what we are talking about here?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Senator Allard, if I may, could I ask Dr. Rob

Becker to respond to that for you, sir? He is from the Agriculture

Research Service.

Senator ALLARD. OK.

Mr. BECKER. Senator, we do have research programs in all of

those areas, TSEs, and as you know, they do overlap with each

other. Not that we completely understand how they differentiate,

but scrapie does lend to our understanding somewhat of chronic

wasting disease. As you pointed out, TSE is related; however we

have not done any research on that in the United States at the moment. We are starting to do that.

The little bit of moneys that we do have for that are sent overseas for research in England. So we do learn one from the other,

although they are different from each other. I am not implying that

they are the same. So our program, in that we have so much

money for it, is helpful in that we can learn from one disease and

extrapolate to some extent to the other. But certainly we need to
18

do more research, as has been pointed out, for chronic wasting disease specifically.

Senator ALLARD. It just seems to me that the $4.2 million is

rather meager concerning the implications of chronic wasting disease on wildlife and management. We need to do surveillance. That

is an important part of it. I am pleased that you have the States

coming in and doing it and helping out.

But I hope that there is communication. It sounds as though you

are talking. That is always heartening as far as your research efforts and what not are concerned. When you have such meager resources, you have to be careful that you do not do duplication, although when you have a young disease like this, or a relatively

new disease, it is very hard to know what is duplicative because

you do not have much information out there.

I would encourage you to work with that.

Mr. GROAT. Senator, I think that as with any understood process

or phenomenon, as is true in most research, the more people that

are working on it with capabilities, the more likely we are to make

progress. I think that is true in health. that is true in many areas.

So I do not think the duplication at this level of funding is a real

issue. I think it is getting everybody with capabilities engaged.

Senator ALLARD. Dr. Clifford, I have one final question. What

percentage of the money that you get goes to the States in the form

of grants for surveillance and research? Do you have that figure?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir. For 2003, I think it was $18 million that

we received. I am sorry, Senator. For 2004, it is $5.75 million of

the $18 million will go directly to the States and tribal nations in

forms of cooperative agreements.

Senator ALLARD. I do not know if you were the one who made

the testimony, but I think there was testimony from the USDA on

the House side that said: ‘‘We now have 26 laboratories that can

run the IHC test.’’

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes.

Senator ALLARD. ‘‘The estimated capacity is now at a quarter of

a million samples, more than adequate to meet the current demand.’’ Is that still true today?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Yes, sir; it is.

Senator ALLARD. It sounds like you almost have surplus there.

If fish and wildlife needs more testing, and if you have more than

enough money, is there a way of making it available to fish and

wildlife agencies, maybe at the State level, so that they can do

their testing programs? Is there a way that that happens or can

happen?

Mr. CLIFFORD. I am not sure I understand. When you say there

is ‘‘surplus’’——

Senator ALLARD. Well, the testimony said there was plenty of

money for testing for your 26 laboratories.

Mr. CLIFFORD. What we are saying is that we have that capacity.

We are not saying that we have extra money. We have the capacity

to do that. Those are contract laboratories within the State and

Federal systems.

Senator ALLARD. Oh, OK. I see.

Mr. CLIFFORD. So for every test that they do, we pay them a certain amount for each test.
19

Senator ALLARD. So that States are happy that you have the capability to test their samples in a timely way?

Mr. CLIFFORD. Correct, yes; yes, sir.

Senator ALLARD. If it is not timely, it’s just because it takes that

long to take the test, not because of a backlog?

Mr. CLIFFORD. That is correct, plus we have the other four tests

that are more rapid that have come on line for cervids as well. Also, if I may, sir; of the $18.5 million, there was some earmarked money also for some of the States in that. So it would actually be $5.75 of something like $16.75 million that would go directly to the States.

Senator ALLARD. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CRAPO. All right. Thank you very much. We would like

to thank this panel for your testimony and for the information that

you have provided to us. This panel will be excused.

We will call our second panel. Our second panel is composed of

Russell George, executive director, Colorado Department of Natural

Resources; Gary Taylor, legislative director, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; Jack Walther, president, American Veterinary Medical Association; and Gary Wolfe, project leader, Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.

Gentlemen, we welcome all of you, and appreciate your appearance before us today. I would like to remind each of you of the instructions I gave earlier with regard to trying to keep your eye on

the clock so that we have plenty of time for questions and answers

and a dialog among ourselves.

With that, let us proceed with you, Mr. George.

STATEMENT OF RUSSELL GEORGE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, WASHINGTON, DC

Mr. GEORGE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Allard.

I listened closely to your opening statements and subscribed totally to the summary that each of you have given us about this increasingly larger and more complex scientific issue. Thank you for

the opportunity to be here today. My goal will be to bring you current on where Colorado is on these number of issues.

Prior to 2002, we in Colorado believed with some confidence that

chronic wasting disease was confined to populations of wild deer

and elk in the Northeastern portion of the State. As we all now

know, unfortunately, 2 years ago we detected the disease in deer

and elk herds in Colorado’s Western Slope, and those are the largest deer and elk herds in the West.

This required us to significantly expand our surveillance and customer service efforts, all at considerable expense. Since that time,

chronic wasting disease has regrettably been detected in several

other States as well. In response, Colorado has willingly shared its

experiences with wildlife officials from those States in order to help

them eradicate, combat, as well as to try to understand better this

wildlife disease.

As a result, the knowledge that we have gained, and the programs we have initiated in Colorado are often used as a model by

others. I am pleased that the pioneering CWD work done in Colo-
20

rado and Wyoming have allowed other States to save scarce funds

and limited personnel time by enabling them to focus on initiatives,

technologies, and approaches that we have already determined to

be effective.

Colorado has invested heavily in tackling the challenge of CWD,

and we have done so largely with State funds, primarily revenues

derived from the sale of hunting licenses. Congress and Federal

agencies have an important role to play in providing additional

support to help the States fight this disease.

I recommend that the Federal role should focus heavily on contributing additional funding to State efforts delivered through already existing mechanisms and agencies. Earlier congressional initiatives on chronic wasting disease, including legislation, direction

to Federal agencies, and critically needed funding have been helpful to many States.

I am also pleased to report that those efforts have recognized the

primacy of the States in policymaking authority with regard to

wildlife management, both in general terms and specifically with

respect to chronic wasting disease. I thank you for that. The recognition of primacy remains critically important to the States.

We have used a screening technique now, the rapid screen test,

to test more than 45,000 wild deer and elk for chronic wasting disease over the last two hunting seasons. Two years ago, it took 3

to 6 months for hunters to obtain the results of their test. This past

hunting season we had that down to 2 weeks. That is critical for

customer service. That is critical for the science because that reporting gives us a data base that we can share and work from

across the Nation.

Despite the unprecedented actions taken by the State of Colorado

and other States, it is clear much more work remains to be done.

The needs of the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, and Colorado State University are extensive and beyond the ability of our State to fully fund the loan.

We believe Federal funding for this work is a wise investment,

not only for the wildlife resource, but for the thousands of jobs dependent on wildlife recreation. In Colorado alone we estimate that

three-quarters of a billion dollars in economic activity is generated

from hunting annually. This activity is especially important to

rural towns and businesses.

I would like to emphasize that there are many opportunities for

the Federal Government to assist States in chronic wasting disease

management research. I urge congressional support for legislation

and funding that will allow State wildlife agencies to fight the disease. I urge you to provide that assistance through the most

streamlined and efficient mechanisms available, and particularly

already established grant programs in both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. I would ask that my complete testimony be included in the record in its entirety.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection, so ordered.

Thank you very much, Mr. George.

Mr. Taylor.
21

STATEMENT OF GARY TAYLOR, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR,

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

AGENCIES, WASHINGTON, DC; ACCOMPANIED BY TOM

THORNE, CHAIR, FISH AND WILDLIFE HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE ON CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES

Mr. TAYLOR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Allard, for

the opportunity to share the Association’s perspectives with you.

With me today is Dr. Tom Thorne, a wildlife veterinarian with the

Wyoming Game and Fish Department who also chairs our Association’s Fish and Wildlife Health Chronic Wasting Disease Subcommittee.

As you know, all 50 State fish and wildlife agencies are members

of our Association. The Association looks forward to continuing to

work with you in particular to provide the State and Federal agencies with the fiscal resources that they need to manage this disease.

In my remarks today, I will also share with you some information regarding the progress of chronic wasting disease management, as outlined in the implementation strategy deriving from the

national plan. Federal and State agencies involved in this endeavor

concur that collectively all the authorities that are necessary to

manage this disease currently exist in law.

While we, therefore, are not convinced of the need for further authorizing legislation, the Association commends you and Senator

Allard, Senator Feingold, and others for their diligence in ensuring

that a coordinated State/Federal effort is directed at this issue.

What is most needed, as other speakers have mentioned, are adequate congressional appropriations to Federal agencies for both

their efforts and to pass through to the State fish and wildlife

agencies, State Departments of Agriculture, State universities, and

other agencies to manage chronic wasting disease. We look forward

to working with you to increase appropriations for this purpose.

My written statement describes the development of the national

plan and the implementation strategy so I will not repeat any of

that here. But let me simply observe that the budget recommendations that are reflected in the implementation strategy were very

thoughtfully constructed under the constraint of reasonable and realistic. They are not ‘‘pie in the sky’’ requests.

I would like to thank Bobby Acord and his staff at APHIS for

making funds available, as Dr. Clifford described to you, in fiscal

year 2003 and anticipated in 2004, and for enlisting the State fish

and wildlife agencies through our Association in designing an equitable protocol for the distribution expeditiously of this money to the

State fish and wildlife agencies through cooperative agreements.

On the issue of funding, Mr. Chairman, we all agree that more

is needed and we are committed to working with you and Congress

to make that happen. With respect to fiscal year 2005, the Association and its member State fish and wildlife agencies, are requesting

a total of $19.2 million through appropriation to USDA-APHIS

which would subsequently be granted to the State fish and wildlife

agencies for managing chronic wasting disease in free-ranging

cervids. This would bring the total in the President’s request up to
22

$29.2 million. It is approximately $10 million more than is in the

President’s budget request for this line item. The President’s budget request is approximately $19.5 million,

half of which, as Dr. Clifford indicated, would likely go to management of chronic wasting disease in captive cervids. We are advocating for an additional $10 million to be provided to the State fish

and wildlife agencies for managing this disease in free-ranging

cervids.

Let me share with you a little bit of some of the perspectives and

information that was compiled in the progress report that both Dr.

Clifford and Mr. Groat mentioned to you. This reflects work that

has been done collectively by the State and Federal agencies from

the period of October 2002 to September 2003. I believe we have

seen considerable progress in research, surveillance, management,

and information dissemination concerning this disease, but as all

three speakers preceding me have indicated, significant additional

work needs to be accomplished.

The implementation strategy identified budget needs of approxi- mately $108 million over a 3-year period. While a significant portion of these funds are expected to be congressional appropriations,

State and tribal agencies have considerable financial commitment

in managing this disease.

Let me share with you some expenditures from the first year’s

effort that reflect that commitment. First of all, from the Federal

agencies in fiscal year 2003, USDA agencies expended approximately $18.5 million. In the same fiscal year, the U.S. Department

of the Interior agencies expended approximately $3.3 million.

According to a survey conducted by our Association, 44 of the 50

State fish and wildlife agencies that responded spent a total of

$15.2 million in State money in managing this disease, and an additional $2.7 million in Pittman-Robertson funds for a total of approximately $18 million in fiscal year 2003.

We also have some preliminary surveillance results from 2002 to

2003 to share with you. I will quickly close with those observations.

Every State is engaged in sampling free-ranging cervids and other

ruminants. 265 out of 88,935 white-tailed deer tested positive for

chronic wasting disease in that sampling season. 288 out of 15,937

mule deer tested positive, and 39 out of 12,843 elk tested positive.

Positive tests were not manifest in several other species that were

tested.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I will close. Thank you again for the

opportunity to appear before you. I would be happy to answer any

questions. I would ask that my complete testimony be included in

the record in its entirety.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection, so ordered.

Thank you very much, Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Walther.

STATEMENT OF JACK O. WALTHER, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN

VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, DC

Mr. WALTHER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Allard. I

am Jack Walther. I am a veterinarian and president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. I hail from a small town in

northeastern Nevada, who is a neighbor to the chairman.
23

The AVMA represents 86 percent of the active veterinarians in

the United States, and are over 70,000 members, most of whom at

some point in their career, have treated wildlife. Today, many veterinarians are dedicating their professional skills to studying

chronic wasting disease and other diseases that affect animals and

humans.

Chronic wasting disease is one of the many transmissible

spongiform encephalopathies. I am going to refer to those as TSEs.

The AVMA and its members have been proactive for many years

in addressing these important disease issues. As a result, we have

developed a scientifically based position statement that supports

the purposes of S. 1366.

Our position statement commits AVMA to disseminating scientific knowledge, encouraging and enhancing surveillance, monitoring, and control programs, and encouraging government support

for the development of new rapid diagnostic tests and control measures.

We recognize and applaud the ongoing efforts of the Department

of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and State and

tribal agencies to implement the national plan for assisting State,

Federal agencies, and tribes in managing chronic wasting disease

in wild and captive cervids. Much have been accomplished, but

much more needs to be done.

At the same time, we urge the subcommittee to remember the

need to address not only CWD, but also other diseases impacting

wildlife and livestock. Some of these diseases also affect humans as

well as animals, such as brucellosis in bison and elk in the Greater

Yellowstone area, brucellosis in feral swine, and tuberculosis in

wild deer.

We live in a world of disease threats. TSE is one such threat.

TSEs in animals include scrapie, BSE, which we all call mad cow

disease, and chronic wasting disease.

Colorado Governor Bill Owens recently told a panel of experts

and key stakeholders from the public and private sectors that CWD

‘‘affects every Coloradan’’ and has the potential to severely damage

hunting, tourism, and related industries, as well as the State’s

unique natural resources.

Because CWD touches so many stakeholders, it is essential that

programs addressing CWD be cooperative in nature. Nowhere is cooperation more vital than between agriculture and wildlife management agencies and groups at the State, national, and international level. Disease does not respect fence lines or State or

international borders. CWD already has affected deer and elk in 13

States and 2 Canadian provinces.

The AVMA supports Section 4 of the bill that provide grants to

assist States in responding to CWD outbreaks. We also support

Sections 3 and 5 of the bill that provide capacity-building grants

to States and tribal wildlife management agencies.

The extent of testing and surveillance that is needed now and in

the foreseeable future exceeds resources available to State departments of natural resources and tribal organizations. Financial support from the Federal Government will be required to comprehensibly and effectively test wild elk and deer populations.
24

One clause in Section 4 that deserves further study, however, is

the language that assigns priority for funding to States on the

basis of previous State expenditures on CWD, management, and research. We agree with the idea that States should be rewarded for

being proactive in managing CWD. However, States with fewer

available resources, such as Nevada, may be inadvertently precluded from receiving grants. They may also be unable to fund surveillance funds and, therefore, have not been able to detect CWD

in their States. These States should be given grants to support surveillance programs to determine whether CWD exists within their

borders.

CWD could potentially affect the entire United States. Therefore,

Congress must be sure that States and tribal governments with the

greatest need receive money and a fair share of those available.

In keeping with our official policy, the AVMA has a strong presence and significant positive impact on professional and public education with respect to TSEs. Thank you very much. I would ask

that my complete testimony be included in the record in its entirety.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection, so ordered.

Thank you very much, Mr. Walther.

Dr. Wolfe.

STATEMENT OF GARY WOLFE, PROJECT LEADER, CHRONIC

WASTING DISEASE ALLIANCE, MISSOULA, MT

Mr. WOLFE. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Senator Allard. I

represent the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, which is a coalition of 15 organizations and businesses that are working together

to positively address CWD. We really appreciate this opportunity

to share our recommendations regarding chronic wasting disease,

an issue which is obviously of considerable importance to our

sportsmen, conservationists, wildlife managers, and the outdoor industry across all of North America.

I would like to take just a moment and provide a brief overview

of the CWD Alliance. Over the past few years, the Boone and

Crockett Club, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Mule

Deer Foundation became increasingly concerned about the impact

CWD was having, and may continue to have, on our wild deer and

elk populations. Moreover, they were also concerned about the impact this could have upon millions of hunters’ confidence to continue hunting.

These concerns led to the establishment of the CWD Alliance in

January 2002. The Alliance is a collaborative project. It is not an

organization. It is a project whose mission is to promote responsible

and accurate CWD communications and to support strategies that

effectively control CWD.

During the past 2 years other prominent organizations and businesses have joined the Alliance, and it now includes a total of 15

participating partners. My written testimony lists all those partners.

The Alliance recognizes that public information and education

are vital to the resolution of the CWD dilemma and has placed a

high priority on working with our State and Federal agency part-
25

ners in implementing the Communications section of the national

CWD plan.

In that regard, the Alliance’s most visible activity has been the

development of a comprehensive chronic wasting disease website

which has received more than a quarter of a million visits since we

launched it in July 2002. The Alliance partners are very committed

to this. During the last 2 years, they have committed over $102,000

to this project and have pledged an additional $83,000 for the activities of the Alliance in 2004.

But now turning to the Federal role and how Congress can help.

The National CWD Plan lays out an aggressive and coordinated

interagency strategy for managing CWD. The Plan was followed up

by an implementation document that identified specific action steps

and budget needs of approximately $108 million over a 3-year period.

As an Alliance, we have had a chance to work with the State and

Federal agencies, observe how they have worked together, and how

they have been implementing this. We appreciate the funding that

Congress has appropriated to date and the support that the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior provided to the State wildlife agencies.

However, there has not been adequate funding for full implementation of the national CWD plan. State wildlife agencies are on the

front lines in the battle against CWD and they need additional financial support. Several States have redirected significant funds

from other wildlife programs to the chronic wasting disease effort.

We are especially concerned that this redirection of limited State

wildlife funds could have disastrous impacts on other important

wildlife management programs and it is not adequate to fully address chronic wasting disease.

We would like to offer the following general recommendations on

how Congress can best support the efforts to combat CWD. First,

continued and increased funding for the national CWD plan should

be a top priority. The International Association of Fish and Wildlife

Agencies recently identified $34 million of CWD funding needs for

the fiscal year 2005 Federal budget. We urge Congress to give serious consideration to the International’s recommendations, especially their request for $19.2 million for grants to State and tribal

wildlife management agencies.

Second, the CWD Alliance does not believe that additional legislation granting new authorities to address CWD or creating additional bureaucracy is what is needed at this point in time. We believe the respective Federal and State agencies do have the authority and the mechanisms to address this issue. There has been an

exceptional level of interagency coordination and cooperation. An

excellent strategy has been developed with the National CWD Plan

and specific actions have been identified in the implementation document. Congress can now best assist with this effort through the

appropriations process.

We would like to thank Senators Allard, Feingold, and Crapo for

introducing S. 1366. It addresses many of the concerns we have regarding adequate funding for the national CWD plan and is consistent with our general recommendations. We are pleased that
26

this bill recognizes that States retain undisputed primacy and policymaking authority with regard to wildlife management.

We support the bill’s proposed grants program to assist States

and tribes in developing and implementing CWD management and

control strategies. We believe that $20.5 million of grants authorized by the bill is urgently needed and is necessary to adequately

implement the national plan.

In conclusion, America’s wild deer and elk populations are priceless treasures. They are a source of beauty, inspiration, and recreation for millions of Americans and they infuse billions of dollars

annually into our national economy. Their health and vitality must

be protected.

Once again, thank you for the opportunity to share our recommendations on this very important wildlife disease issue. I will

be glad to help answer questions. I would ask that my complete

testimony be included in the record in its entirety.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection, so ordered.

Thank you very much, Mr. Wolfe.

I would like to thank all the members of the panel, as well as

the preceding panel. You have all been very good at succinctly summarizing your written testimony. I believe that your written testimony has been very well done. I want to thank you for the effort

that has been put into this.

I also just want to make a couple of comments. I appreciate the

focus on this panel of making certain that we recognize the importance of solidifying the primacy of the States in terms of managing

wildlife. Often we here in Congress, whether it is water issues,

wildlife issues, fisheries issues, or whatever it may be, face the

tendency that is there in so many other Federal programs, to not

only find a Federal solution, but to basically federalize the jurisdiction and take control over the management of the issue away from

the States. I think it is critical as we address CWD that we not

start down that track. I want to thank Senator Allard as well for

drafting this and helping to make sure that we recognize that in

this legislation.

Virtually all of the witnesses today have indicated that the authorities necessary for the wildlife agencies at the USDA and the

Department of the Interior are in place for the mechanism to get

resources to get to the needed research and management efforts.

Do any of you disagree with that general summary of the testimony that we have heard today?

Mr. GEORGE. No, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. TAYLOR. No, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. WALTHER. No, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. WOLFE. No, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CRAPO. Mr. Taylor, I wanted to go into a couple of points

in your testimony specifically just to be sure that I understand it

clearly. Any of the others that would like to can jump in on this.

In your testimony you indicate that the implementation strategy

for the national CWD plan identified budget needs, excluding funding for environmental compliance activities of about $108 million

over a 3-year period.

If I correctly understood the resources that you went through that were provided, it included about $22 million from the USDA
27

agencies and from the USDI agencies together, and about another

$18 million that came from 44 of the 50 State fish and wildlife

agencies that have responded, I assume that that was in one year;

is that correct?

Mr. TAYLOR. That is correct, Mr. Chairman; yes.

Senator CRAPO. Which is about $40 million of effort collectively

among the various agencies, State and Federal; is that correct?

Mr. TAYLOR. That’s approximately correct; yes.

Senator CRAPO. If we are now seeing about $40 million a year

going into the issue, and the national plan identified a $108 million

need over a 3-year period, does that mean that we are meeting the

need financially?

Mr. TAYLOR. We are, because the States have set aside priorities

for other programs to spend money on chronic wasting disease

management. What you see reflected there, the $108 million, although it is not broken down like that in the implementation plan,

was largely anticipated to be congressionally appropriated funds to

the different agencies, much of which would be passed through to

the States.

But in the absence of meeting objectives for that, the State fish

and wildlife agencies in particular have found moneys by establishing a high priority for chronic wasting disease and unfortunately having to set aside some activities for other fish and wildlife

management programs in order to adequately fund chronic wasting

disease management and surveillance activities.

So the short answer is yes. The expenditures of funds appear to

be on track with the needs, but it also reflects the commitment of

the States to get the job done in spite of the fact that congressional

appropriations were not adequate to address their needs.

Senator CRAPO. So if were to look to the Federal Government for

that $108 million need, the Federal Government would be falling

short by about $42 million over a 3-year period?

Mr. TAYLOR. If current levels of expenditure continue for the subsequent 2 years; yes, Mr. Chairman. That is why we, in our budget

recommendations to the appropriations committees, have asked for

an additional $10 million over and above the President’s request

for USDA-APHIS for the chronic wasting disease line item. As I indicated, that would be specifically directed to the State fish and

wildlife agencies for continued surveillance and management activities.

Senator CRAPO. Put another way, what we are seeing right now

is that the States are diverting approximately $18 million from

other wildlife needs in order to meet the CWD research needs?

Mr. TAYLOR. That is essentially correct.

Senator CRAPO. Senator Allard.

Senator ALLARD. Mr. Taylor, you indicated you brought with you

Dr. Thorne from Wyoming; is that right?

Mr. TAYLOR. Yes, sir.

Senator ALLARD. He works with the fish and wildlife agency?

Mr. TAYLOR. He is with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Senator ALLARD. I would just point out that there, at the University of Wyoming, you have one of the top recognized experts on
28

chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. You have a good resource

there. I hope that you work with her.

Mr. TAYLOR. Dr. Beth Williams?

Senator ALLARD. Yes.

Mr. TAYLOR. Who happens to be married to Dr. Tom Thorne.

Senator ALLARD. OK. Very good. All right.

[Laughter.]

Senator ALLARD. Beth is your top transmission of information.

Very good. So that is your wife, then; is that correct?

Mr. THORNE. That is correct.

Senator ALLARD. I am just telling you what I hear out there. I

have never had an opportunity to meet her.

Mr. TAYLOR. Beth does tremendous work on this. In fact, she was

one of the original researchers that identified chronic wasting disease in free ranging cervids.

Senator ALLARD. Exactly. I think she was a student at CSU

when she started work on it; if that is correct.

Mr. TAYLOR. Would you like to talk more about that?

Senator ALLARD. It is important work. I think you need to know

that the researchers have recognized her expertise. That is good.

I would also like to recognize the rest of the panel and particularly you, Dr. Walther. I know it is not always easy to get here.

I appreciate your being here and representing the Association.

I just want to make sure that we have this on record. You have

all heard the testimony from the two Agencies that we had here

earlier. Do you agree with everything they said? If you do not agree

with everything they said, where do you disagree? Anybody here on

the panel want to disagree with them?

Dr. Walther?

Mr. WALTHER. I am not sure that I disagree, Senator Allard. I

think from our perspective our concern is that I heard that in fact

there was a line item and then I heard in the other Agency there

was not a line item.

Our concern is that the emphasis for dealing with this disease

does not get shuffled off because of something else.

There is much that we do not know about chronic wasting disease and the potential for this to spread, I think, exists greatly. I

think we need to be sure that we are focused on the research and

the surveillance that is needed to keep this as under control as possible.

Senator ALLARD. Mr. George?

Mr. GEORGE. Senator Allard and Mr. Chairman, the observation

that I would like to share with you I think goes to what you are

probing for and that is the question of: Are the Federal agencies

cooperating? Are they forthcoming? Are they accountable in getting

the Federal dollars onto the ground and focusing on the work in

the greatest efficiency as we can?

My observation is that over the last couple of years since this has

really become a high priority issue is that there is a greater responsiveness, a greater interest in cooperating and partnering than

I am accustomed to seeing. I think that that will continue. I really

appreciate the emphasis being put on what has happened to the

implementation plan, why is the national plan not moving any faster?
29

That plan was put together the right way. It was done quickly

but seriously and it is very comprehensive. The more we can do to

get that back to the top and do what it asks for, the better. I think

your legislation is helping us do that. I think the interest in it

shown by the two Agencies here today and their effort to be consistent with the direction put forth in the plan is all very important.

But I think the hallmark of what is happening in chronic wasting disease nationally is: Look at your NGO’s who have stepped up

on the education part of this. The States will always be the foundation of this because the wildlife and the domestic cervids are on the

ground in the States. I think the two Federal agencies are really

making an extraordinary effort to be there for us.

If we can keep that effort at partnering going the way it started,

I think it will work.

Senator ALLARD. What is your greatest challenge in Colorado as

far as managing the cervid population and chronic wasting disease?

Mr. GEORGE. We felt that the first thing that had to be done was

to learn what we have and where is it. I guess I should back up

to say that the Colorado experience, as you indicated earlier this

morning, Senator Allard, started some years ago at CSU and the

environs where CSU researchers for the first time identified symptoms and then eventually were able to establish that there is a disease etiology going on there.

So Colorado and Wyoming together have been working on the research side of this for a number of years. But in the most recent

years that has caused us for the most part to be here today, it was

the question of: Is this bigger than we thought it was? Where is

it? What is happening?

So at the Colorado Division of Wildlife, our first challenge was:

We need to know where it is and in what numbers. To be able to

collect that kind of a data base, particularly in the wild, is an extreme challenge. We could not have done it without the cooperation

of our sportsmen.

So what mattered to us was: How do we get a test available that

is accurate and that the results can be returned to the sportsmen

and, therefore, to the data base, quickly? Colorado State University

stepped right up to the plate and said, ‘‘We will do all we can do.’’

The Division of Wildlife put into motion an extraordinary personnel

effort to be able to get out into the field and to make these tests

available.

We went from a few thousand tests 3 years ago to 43,000 tests

last year, and then around 23,000 this year. We went from a 6-

month return time period on the results to 2 weeks in that 3-year

period. We could not have done that without help from a number

of sources, including our local veterinarians.

The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association membership helped

us. The Colorado State University brought together the best

science available in a rapid test. All of that worked. That still, I

think, is the important challenge, to be able to get enough samples

across the State to know where we have infectivity and at what

rates.

Senator ALLARD. That is a tremendous growth in cases, or in animals that you are testing and a pretty substantial jump in im-
30

provement as far as getting your results back. I suppose that there

is still some impatience out there amongst some of your hunters.

They want results the next day or something like that. But at least

it is much better than what it was.

Let me ask you this, Mr. Taylor. You represent the fish and wildlife agencies here in the United States. How are they paying for

their surveillance processes? Are they like Colorado? Have they increased their license fees in order to pay for that? Are they diverting money from other dollars? Or, are they expecting the Federal

Government to come in and provide most of it?

Mr. TAYLOR. I do not know any of our agencies that have raised

their license fees in response to this. Most of them, as you know,

are principally funded by licensees from hunters and anglers plus

the Federal aid and wildlife and sport fish restoration money. That

is the Pittman-Robertson funds that I mentioned.

So most of the States are paying for this probably out of license

fee sources, but they are not getting additional license fees. They

are diverting money from other wildlife programs in order to place

high priority on this particular issue. I am sure Director George

could talk with you about some of the decisions that they have had

to make in order to reflect the high priority on this.

Senator ALLARD. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions.

Senator CRAPO. Mr. Walther, I had a question with regard to

your testimony relating to one of the clauses in Section 4 of the Act

where you talk about the fact that the formula basically provides

funding to the States on the basis of a previous State expenditure

on CWD management and research. You had a concern there about

the fact that although a State should be rewarded for focusing on

CWD, that some States who do not have the resources or who have

had other difficulties, may be shortchanged.

Could you expand on that a little bit?

Mr. WALTHER. I think I could maybe use Nevada as a good example. The funding for this type of surveillance in the State for chronic wasting disease probably is not available. I do not know that for

a fact, but just knowing the Fish and Game Department and their

budget, I would assume that.

It is certainly probable that because of the closeness, as with

Idaho, that chronic wasting disease may even right now be present

in Nevada, and if it is not, the chances of it occurring certainly are

high. It would seem to me that as funding becomes available, that

it should go to States like that that have not actually done the surveillance, but probably should be doing it. I think that funding

would help them.

Senator CRAPO. All right. Thank you very much.

I do not have any other questions either.

Senator Allard.

Senator Allard. I have just one followup question. Mr. Taylor, I

believe you mentioned the EPA role in funding.

Mr. TAYLOR. It was not funding, Senator Allard. It is the issue

that Region 8 raised about a year ago.

Senator ALLARD. Which States are in Region 8?

Mr. TAYLOR. Well, Denver is the headquarters. I am not sure

which States it covers. But it had to do with permit requirements
31

for laboratory facilities, testing for chronic wasting disease and

whether they would be required to have a waste water discharge

permit.

We believe that that has largely been solved by a recent record

of decision that EPA made that characterizes the chemical agent

that is used to neutralize prions as a pesticide under FIFRA, and

therefore, gives EPA the authority to exempt those labs from requiring to have a waste water discharge permit. At least that is my

understanding of the decision and its implications.

As I indicated in my written statement, EPA has been participating in the national CWD task force. Hopefully, we are reconciling some differences of opinions and some concerns there that we

had with respect to where they were going previously.

Senator ALLARD. I think that is probably what has driven CSU

to develop the digestive process that I mentioned where they had

a tank. They put in a strong alkalizing agent of sodium hydroxide.

Apparently that kills the prion very effectively. Ordinarily heat

treatment does not do it and many other chemical treatments do

not do it. If you have 43,000, that is a lot of ruminants of a carcass

and a lot of heads that you have to process. I know that they have

been working on that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CRAPO. Well, thank you very much. That concludes our

questions. I want to again thank this panel as well as the other

panel for the excellent testimony that you have provided, both your

written testimony as well as your oral testimony here today.

I want to let you know that it has helped us significantly as we

evaluate this legislation and try to make sure that we bring necessary oversight to the issue so that we get the funding there as

is needed by the States and maintain States’ sovereignty.

Again, we want to thank everybody.

If there is nothing further, then this hearing will be concluded.

[Whereupon, at 11:05 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned, to

reconvene at the call of the chair.]

[Additional statements submitted for the record follow:]

STATMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, U.S. SENATOR FROM

THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

I would like to thank Senator Crapo for holding this hearing. As we have witnessed the devastating health, economic, ecological and environmental impacts of

similar transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases, such as scrapie

and mad cow disease, it is disturbing to have such a serious and mysterious ailment

affecting both wild and captive herds of deer and elk across our country.

I am thankful that there have not been any large outbreaks of chronic wasting

disease discovered in my State of Oklahoma to date, although one captive elk herd

in Oklahoma has been diagnosed with the disease. The Oklahoma Department of

Wildlife Conservation first began a cooperative project in 1999 to test hunterharvested wild deer and elk with the help of the USDA. So far nearly 400 deer and

elk have been tested for chronic wasting disease and all test results have been negative.

Continued efforts to research the cause and spread of chronic wasting disease are

important as well as implementation of the best methods for isolating and eliminating infected cervids. I am particularly encouraged that research in this area has

been receptively facilitated by hundreds of cooperative hunters. Oklahoma plans to

expand its existing surveillance program. Hopefully, with the cooperation of Federal

and State agencies, private individuals and organizations, we will develop even bet-
32

ter practices for managing infected wildlife, controlling the spread of chronic wasting disease, and minimize its occurrences and effects.

STATMENT OF HON. MAX BAUCUS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MONTANA

Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this important hearing today on chronic

wasting disease. I am very sorry I could not be here in person, but my Finance Committee duties have kept me away. I would like to personally welcome Dr. Gary

Wolfe, of Missoula, Montana, who will be testifying on behalf of the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance. Dr. Wolfe has done an excellent job during his time with the

Alliance. I am very pleased he is here today to share his knowledge and describe

the good work of the Alliance in providing and distributing accurate information

about chronic wasting disease (CWD).

This hearing is very timely as there is increasing concern about CWD and the impacts it could have on our wild deer and elk populations. I know sportsmen and

hunters are concerned about how CWD could impact their ability to hunt these important game animals. This in turn could hurt the important hunting and outfitting

industry, particularly in states like Montana where hunting, outfitting and related

businesses are vital to our economy. Montana is not currently affected by CWD like

other states, but some believe it may just be a matter of time before CWD becomes

a problem for us.

Given the potentially devastating impacts of CWD, I’ve been pleased to learn that

state and Federal wildlife agencies are working well together to come up with a

strategic plan for addressing the growing CWD crisis. I fully support these efforts,

and I will do what I can to work with my colleagues to see that these efforts are

adequately funded. Coordinating research and information on CWD is extremely important to finding the best way to maintain healthy elk and deer populations across

the country.

I would like to applaud the Chairman and Senator Allard for introducing S. 1366

the Chronic Wasting Disease Financial Assistance Act of 2003. This bill has received

positive testimony from today’s witnesses, and I plan to study it carefully. I hope

to be able to give it my full support.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

STATEMENT OF HON. RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, U.S. SENATOR FROM

THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

I am pleased to be able to present my views on chronic wasting disease and the

challenges faced by states and tribal governments in dealing with this disease.

I would like to thank the chair of the Fisheries, Wildlife and Water subcommittee,

Senator Michael Crapo, for holding this hearing on a topic of great importance to

Wisconsin and allowing me to participate. I would also like to thank the ranking

member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Jim Jeffords, for his assistance with this legislative hearing.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a serious problem affecting both wild and captive deer and elk in my home state of Wisconsin. It was first detected in my state

in 2002 and has now been detected in the neighboring states of Minnesota and Illinois. Wisconsin’s experience in getting Federal assistance to address this problem,

though eventually forthcoming, has been extremely slow and frustrating. The Federal Government must make chronic wasting disease a higher priority, and Congress must provide the relevant Federal agencies with the additional funds and authority so that they can do so.

The state of Wisconsin completed an historic effort to test the deer in our state

in 2002 and followed up in 2003. My state began intensive testing of deer after

CWD was discovered on February 28, 2002. Results from more than 56,000 white

tail deer tested in our state have turned up 320 CWD-positive animals. Almost all

of the infected deer detected came from an eradication zone covering parts of Dane,

Iowa and Sauk counties. Other counties have detected CWD within their borders

including Columbia, Kenosha, Richland, Rock, and Walworth. CWD has also been

found in several captive herds in my state as well.

Over 1,200 people in my state have been involved, conducting thousands of hours

of work at millions of dollars of expense. Management and control of CWD has cost

the state approximately $4 to $5 million each year in staff resources and support

funds. To cover these costs, the state has been redirecting staff and funds from other

programs and activities, and concerns are growing that basic wildlife programs

might be impacted in the future. The state has requested assistance in securing
33

Federal support to ensure that CWD management does not drain excessive amounts

of resources from other wildlife responsibilities.

Therefore, I am pleased to be able to present my views on S. 1366, the Chronic

Wasting Disease Support for States Act of 2003, which would bring critical Federal

support to the effort to eradicate CWD. I have worked closely with the Senator from

Colorado, Senator Wayne Allard, on this legislation in this and previous Congresses.

Companion legislation has been introduced in the House (H.R. 2636) by Representatives Mark Green, Scott McInnis, and Paul Ryan. I am pleased to be working with

this strong coalition to assist states and tribes in their efforts to manage, control,

and eradicate CWD.

The need for these funds is overwhelming, and the process for obtaining them

needs to be more certain and more transparent. This bill authorizes direct grants

to states and tribal governments battling CWD to be awarded by a manner prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. Specifically, in the bill, the Interior Department is directed to give up to $10 million in grants to states and $3 million in

grants to tribes to help them plan and implement management strategies to address

chronic wasting disease in both wild herds of deer and elk. The Interior Department

is directed to provide grants totaling $7.5 million to assist States in developing and

implementing long term management strategies.

This bill is needed because state wildlife and agriculture departments do not have

the fiscal or scientific capacity to adequately confront the problem. Their resources

are spread too thin as they attempt to prevent the disease from spreading. Federal

help in the form of management funding, research grants, and scientific expertise

is urgently needed. Federal and state cooperation will protect animal welfare, safeguard our valued hunting and livestock industries, help guarantee America’s food

safety, and protect the public health.

This legislation is comprehensive, addressing both captive and wild animals and

short term and long term needs. It authorizes a Federal chronic wasting disease

program that will be administered by the United States Departments of Interior.

I think it is extremely appropriate that legislators from Colorado, the state that has

the longest history in chronic wasting disease, have made a concerted effort to work

with Wisconsin members who are struggling with a new outbreak. I deeply appreciate the commitment of Senator Allard and others from the Wisconsin and Colorado

delegations toward finding a solution that works for both our states.

In the past, the Forests Subcommittee of the House Committee on Resources has

delayed action on this bill based upon promises that the Department of the Interior

(DOI) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would be acting quickly to put together a comprehensive CWD management plan. That plan was to be delivered in

two parts—a Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing

Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild and Captive Cervids, released in June 2002, and

an Implementation document describing specifically what actions would be taken,

the agencies responsible for individual projects, project timeframes, and the projected costs of completing each project.

It has now been almost 2 years since the Forest Subcommittee’s hearing, and the

Implementation document has not been released. We now know generally the actions that the agencies would propose to take to assist states with the problem, but

we need a better understanding of the financial resources needed to implement

those actions. In correspondence dated January 22, 2003, the Department of Interior

stated that the Implementation document was transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review on December 18, 2002. I was successful in getting a provision included in the 2003 omnibus appropriations bill calling for the Implementation document to be released no later than May 20, 2003. That deadline

has long since passed, and I have called for oversight hearings in the Senate.

Recently, on March 9, 2004, I led the Wisconsin and Colorado delegations in sending a letter to OMB’s Associate Director for Natural Resources requesting the immediate publication of the Implementation document. We continue to await a response.

I am submitting a copy of this letter to the Committee with my testimony.

Mr. Chairman, it is clear to me that Congress should wait no longer. Legislation

is sorely needed to provide the Federal resources to address a wildlife problem that

does not respect state borders. I look forward to working with this Committee to

seek passage of this measure. This is a good bill, and it deserves the Committee’s

support.
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STATEMENT OF DR. JOHN CLIFFORD, ASSISTANT DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL ANIMAL HEALTH POLICY AND PROGRAMS, USDA

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity

to speak with you on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) about

chronic wasting disease.

CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of deer and elk, in the

same family of diseases as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie. It

has been diagnosed in farmed elk and deer herds in eight States. Currently, there

are only three known positive captive cervid herds in the United States: two positive

elk herds in Colorado and one positive deer herd in Wisconsin. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing that follow trace animals from these and other positive

herds that have been depopulated. CWD has also been identified in free-ranging

deer and elk in areas of Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota,

Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The origin and mode of transmission of CWD are

unknown.

To ensure a coordinated and cooperative Federal approach to assisting States, a

task force including USDA and the Department of the Interior (DOI), along with

universities and State wildlife management and agriculture agencies, drafted the

‘‘Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing CWD in Wild

and Captive Cervids’’ (national plan). The national plan was shared with Congress

in June 2002. The national plan’s components include action items for surveillance,

diagnostics, and research, among other things. All agencies have been working together as budgets allow to implement the plan. The Department is committed to

working with our State and tribal partners, as well as landowners and industry to

implement an effective national program to combat chronic wasting disease. From

fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2005 (President’s Budget), Department funding

for CWD has increased by 41 percent, from $16.4 million to $23.1 million. In Fiscal

Year (FY) 2004, USDA-APHIS received $18.5 million which, after Congressional

earmarks, is being divided roughly equally between the captive cervid program and

assistance with addressing CWD in wild deer and elk. An additional $3.2 million

was provided for USDA research activities in 2004, for a total of $21.7 million. The

fiscal year 2005 budget includes $23.1 million, of which $20.1 is for APHIS and $3.0

is for research. However, funding decisions must be made on an annual basis, taking into consideration resource constraints and the many program needs that compete for these resources.

In January, a working group composed of many of the same people that put the

national plan together held a progress meeting in St. Louis. This working group is

currently compiling a CWD progress report. By examining each action item set forth

in the national plan, the progress report highlights accomplishments and further

needs. While much has been done in the past 2 years, the report illustrates that

there is much left to do in the fight against CWD.

In addition to working with other Agencies on CWD, USDA is also moving ahead

to address CWD in both captive and wild deer and elk populations.

USDA is continuing the development and implementation of its voluntary national herd certification program to eliminate CWD from farmed cervids. On December 24, 2003, we published a proposed rule on the certification program. We received

over 120 comments on this proposal, and we are evaluating these comments now.

We anticipate publishing a final rule soon with the goal of implementing the program by the end of this year. While we work on implementation of this program,

we will continue to pay for all laboratory costs associated with CWD testing in the

farmed cervid population, and positive and exposed farmed cervid herds will continue to be eligible for indemnity. USDA also pays the costs of depopulation and disposal. Our goal is nothing less than eradication of the disease in the farmed cervid

population.

Although, as an agriculture agency, USDA’s primary concern is with farmed

cervids, we are also assisting States and Tribes in dealing with the wildlife aspect

of the disease. USDA plans to make approximately $5.75 million available to the

Tribal Nations and State wildlife agencies for this purpose. This funding will be distributed via cooperative agreements according to a formula initially developed in

conjunction with the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

(IAFWA) in fiscal year 2003. That collaboration continues. Under this formula,

States are classified according to Tiers. Tier 1 States, which have known occurrences of CWD in free-ranging cervids as of March 1, 2003, are eligible for the highest sums. States falling in the Tiers 2 and 3 are eligible for lower amounts. Through

a cooperative agreement with the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society

(NAFWS), regional Tribal biologists have also been hired to help improve CWD surveillance on Tribal lands.
35

Our Wildlife Services program has been assisting State wildlife agencies with

their activities. Our personnel have assisted with the harvesting of wild deer in Illinois and Wisconsin, and both deer and elk in Colorado for CWD testing. Additionally, we have assisted State wildlife agencies in collecting CWD samples from

hunter-harvested deer at check stations in 10 States.

Our Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) continues to approve new diagnostic

test kits for CWD. Currently there are four tests that have been approved: one for

use in elk, mule deer, and white-tail deer; another for mule deer and white-tailed

deer; and two that are approved for white-tailed deer only. These diagnostic test kits

are only available to APHIS approved laboratories contracted for CWD disease surveillance and are only licensed for use in wild deer and elk. These testing technologies provide wildlife agencies the ability to screen the large numbers of animals

that are part of hunter harvest surveillance efforts. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) remains the internationally recognized method of choice for testing for TSEs and is

being used for confirmation of positives as well as surveillance in captive deer and

elk. CVB officials have placed a high priority on reviewing and evaluating other

CWD test kits.

Research into the area of CWD has continued as well. Our National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) is researching the possibility of CWD vaccines as well as

ways to identify improved barriers and repellents to keep wild deer and elk separated from captive cervids and other livestock. NWRC also plans to examine new

decontamination methods for CWD-affected facilities.

The Agricultural Research Service has also undertaken several research projects,

including assessing the interspecies transmission of TSEs among livestock species

and cervids, assessing herbivore susceptibility to TSE, and identifying and developing new methods for detecting prion protein molecules in the environment and

feedstuffs.

The Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES) supports research projects to determine the causes and methods for control of CWD

through both competitive and formula-funded programs, as well as a Congressional

special grant. In fiscal year 2003, CSREES awarded $125,000 from the Critical

Issues Program to Colorado State University to study the association of micronutrients and genetics with the prevalence of CWD in captive and free-ranging Rocky

Mountain elk. CSREES also awarded a $232,180 special grant to the University of

Wyoming to study the epidemiology and transmission of chronic wasting disease in

deer using radiotelemetry equipment. Additionally, CSREES fiscal year 03 Hatch

formula funds are supporting CWD projects in epidemiology, prion propagation, environmental persistence, and diagnostics at land grant institutions including the

University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois, and Purdue University. In fiscal

year 04, several land grant and non-land grant universities, and Canadian and U.S.

Federal agencies, including CSREES, have joined together to form a new multistate

effort on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE’s) which will include a

concentration on CWD.

Now that I’ve summarized USDA activities on CWD, I’d like to take a moment

to discuss S. 1366. S. 1366 would authorize the Department of Interior to make

grants to State and Tribal governments to assist State and Tribal efforts to manage

and control the spread of CWD. For the past 2 years, Congress has provided additional appropriations to the APHIS program, which we have shared with the States

and Tribes through cooperative agreements. As I mentioned earlier in my testimony,

APHIS worked with IAFWA to develop criteria to distribute this funding to State

wildlife agencies and NAFWS to meet CWD surveillance and management needs.

Because this funding template has now been established, we think it would be most

efficient to continue to use our existing system to pass CWD funds through to the

States and Tribes, rather than create a new system as contemplated in S. 1366. For

this reason, USDA does not think that this legislation is necessary.

CWD is an important issue to USDA. There is a lot of work being done, and it

will continue as we implement our herd certification program and expand our efforts

to assist the States and Tribes. By continuing to work together with our Federal

and State counterparts, we believe we can provide the most comprehensive approach

to addressing the disease, even as the science continues to develop.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

RESPONSES BY JOHN CLIFFORD TO QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR FEINGOLD

Question 1. Both you and Chip Groat at the Interior Department outlined the research agendas of your respective Agencies. What is the current distribution of the

research funds and from what account in USDA’s budget does the money come?
36

What is the status of the research and development of a live animal test for chronic

wasting disease (CWD)?

Response. During fiscal year 2004, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

plans to invest approximately $2.6 million into CWD research, and USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service plans to invest approximately $616,000. Through the National Wildlife Research Center, USDA’s Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is also investing approximately $1

million into CWD research and methods development activities.

With regard to your research question, ARS collaborated with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado State University to develop a first generation live-animal test for CWD that is based on immunohistochemistry (IHC) of tonsil biopsies

(the test is further described below). ARS continues a comprehensive research program in pathogenesis, disease transmission, and the application of novel technologies to discover and develop improved second generation diagnostics.

Question 2. Both you and Mr. Groat discussed efforts to develop data bases to

track CWD information. Mr. Groat indicated that the data base should be developed

through coordination between the Agencies. What is the status of the development

of this data base at USDA? Is USDA’s data base linked to any other data bases,

such as that being developed by Interior? If not, what are the plans to combine the

data and share this information? Who currently has access to this information, and

what are the plans for future access to data?

Response. APHIS’ Veterinary Services (VS) program is developing a farmed cervid

data base to coincide with the launch of its CWD herd certification program in late

2004 or early 2005. Under the voluntary program, producers will submit elk or deer

from their herds for CWD testing if the animals are over 16 months of age when

they die. Surveillance data from these herds will be added to the VS data base and

after 5 years of monitoring, a herd will be certified as low-risk if all of the animals

tested were found free of CWD. VS is currently working with the US Geological Survey at the Department of the Interior to determine how information will be shared

with the National CWD data base they are developing.

Question 3. In Mr. Groat’s testimony, he indicated that: ‘‘Live animal testing efforts, using tonsillar biopsy . . . will also continue as an important management approach there.’’ It is my understanding from conversations with Wisconsin deer farmers that there is no live animal test for CWD currently available. Is USDA using

tonsillar biopsies in its management efforts, either independently or in conjunction

with States and Tribal Governments? Can you provide scientific justification for the

use or non-use of this test?

Response. USDA is not currently using tonsillar biopsy in our CWD management

efforts because such a testing method is not practical on a wide-scale basis. The National Park Service and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, among others, are conducting some surveillance among deer using tonsillar biopsy. This surveillance is for

research purposes only at this time and general anesthesia is used to collect the biopsy. The tonsil biopsy procedure was adapted for deer by Margaret Wild (now of

the National Park Service) and Michael Miller of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

ARS provided assistance with tissue testing. The test, however, has some limitations. It utilizes existing technology, primarily IHC, so it is not a rapid test nor one

that can produce results in the field. Tonsillar biopsy can be useful in ‘‘test and cull’’

programs where the disease is known to exist, such as in urban situations where

killing deer is not acceptable to the public. However, it is not a practical test for

large-scale surveillance programs. Neither is it particularly useful for farmed cervid

surveillance as it is stressful, costly, and requires immobilization which is always

risky and occasionally fatal. Mortality testing over time is a more effective surveillance tool for detecting CWD in farmed cervids. In addition, the test is not suitable

for use in elk because the prion protein does not accumulate in the lymph nodes

to the same degree nor as early as in white-tailed deer and mule deer.

Question 4. You testified that there are four diagnostic test kits available for CWD

disease surveillance and that these are only available to APHIS-approved laboratories under contract. Could you provide additional clarification as to the procedures

for a laboratory to be approved? What authority is USDA using to make this determination? Does USDA have any plans to approve private laboratories for prion disease testing, particularly CWD?

Response. Testing and laboratory capacity have been important issues related to

CWD. USDA expanded the number of laboratories approved to perform the IHC

assay for CWD after realizing an increased testing capacity was necessary. USDA

now has 26 laboratories that can run the IHC test, with an estimated testing capacity of a quarter of a million samples, more than adequate to meet current demand.
37

Official diagnosis of CWD continues to be performed exclusively by Federal and

State regulatory agency laboratories and this remains the current USDA policy.

Currently, in order to be approved these State and Federal labs have to demonstrate

competence with IHC techniques and have experience with TSE diseases in general.

The facilities also have to have the required equipment to perform this testing and

the ability to prioritize CWD testing at the request of USDA when necessary.

The exclusive use of State and Federal regulatory laboratories is consistent with

existing policies and practices for the control and elimination of program diseases.

The system is designed to not only ensure consistency and accuracy but also to preserve domestic and international market confidence in U.S. agricultural commodities. A ‘‘false positive’’, for any disease, not just CWD, could result in unnecessary

public concern and costly regulatory action. And in the case of a disease like bovine

spongiform encephalopathy, a false positive could be devastating, costing the U.S.

economy billions of dollars in unnecessary domestic and international market disruption from which it could take years to recover.

RESPONSES BY JOHN CLIFFORD TO QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR ALLARD

Question 1. In his testimony, it was mentioned that CWD has been diagnosed in

farmed elk and deer herds in eight States. You also stated that there are only three

known positive captive cervid herds in the United States: two positive elk herds in

Colorado and one positive deer herd in Wisconsin. Is USDA currently planning any

depopulation? If so, when will it occur and where? Do you have any idea of how

many animals will be involved?

Response. USDA has established animal health regulations to provide for the payment of indemnity for the voluntary depopulation of captive cervid herds known to

be infected with CWD. USDA stands ready and willing to provide indemnity in

order to encourage the depopulation of infected herds thus reducing the risk of

spreading CWD. However, producers do have a choice between depopulating or

quarantining their herd. One of the Colorado producers you reference has chosen

to quarantine his herd of approximately 200 elk but is discussing a herd plan with

the State of Colorado, which could allow him to try to manage out of the disease.

The other Colorado producer you reference refused a previous offer of indemnity,

and the Wisconsin herd owner is currently in litigation with the State of Wisconsin

over the validity of tests results that found CWD-positive animals in his herd. The

Colorado herd contains approximately 35 elk and the Wisconsin herd contains an

estimated 150 deer. In addition, in late May, another Wisconsin herd with approximately 10 deer tested positive for CWD, and that producer has expressed interest

in indemnity and depopulation. As yet, no appraisals have been obtained and no

timetable set. All 4 herds are under State quarantine.

Question 2. You mentioned the National Plan in your statement and testimony.

You also stated that the Department is committed to working with our State and

Tribal partners, as well as landowners and industry to implement an effective national program to combat CWD. Congress has demanded a final plan—why has the

final plan not been promulgated? What is the status of the National plan? If the

problem is with OMB, can you explain their reasoning?

Response. In June of 2002, a task force of Federal agencies and State wildlife

management agencies completed the ‘‘Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies,

and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild and Captive Cervids’’ and

presented it as the ‘‘National Plan’’ to Congress. We are implementing this plan. As

a followup to that plan, State wildlife agencies, universities, and Federal agencies

developed a set of action items to help guide their response and direct funds to the

ongoing battle against CWD. Information on these activities is contained in what

is called the ‘‘progress report,’’ which is meant to identify progress made in fiscal

year 2003 on those actions consistent with the National Plan. The report, which was

reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget and sent to members on May

27, also highlights areas for future steps for the management of CWD.

Question 3. When discussing the National Plan, several witnesses mentioned a

progress report. What is the progress report and how does it relate to the National

Plan? When is the progress report due?

Response. The progress report described above was recently finalized by APHIS

on behalf of USDA, the U.S. Fish and the Wildlife Service representing the Department of the Interior, and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

representing the States, after review by the Office on Management and Budget. On

May 27, a copy of the report was provided to each member of the Subcommittee.
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Question 4. Please explain in further detail (matching funding to program areas)

how your spending on CWD matches the spending outlined in the draft management plan, using the recommendations and categories outlined in the final draft

plan.

Response. As detailed in the ‘‘Progress Report on the Plan for Assisting States,

Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild and

Captive Cervids,’’ during fiscal year 2004 USDA is estimating that it will spend approximately $79,000 on communications; $114,000 on information dissemination;

$766,000 on diagnostics; $7.428 million on disease management; $4.216 million on

research (including $1 million for activities carried out at APHIS’ National Wildlife

Research Center); and $6.92 million on surveillance. These figures do not include

approximately $2.25 million earmarked by Congress for specific State projects.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES G. GROAT, DIRECTOR, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to provide the Subcommittee with

the Department of the Interior’s (Department) views regarding S. 1036, the ‘‘Chronic

Wasting Disease Support Act of 2003,’’ and S. 1366, the ‘‘Chronic Wasting Disease

Financial Support Act of 2003.’’ The Department continues to be concerned with the

current and future effects of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on free-ranging deer

and elk.

The Department supports the concepts embodied in these bills, particularly the

recognition and facilitation of the critical role that state wildlife management agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) play in limiting the

distribution and occurrence of CWD. However, we note that several of its provisions

direct the Secretary to carry out programs which appear, at least in part, duplicative of ongoing efforts within the Department. Moreover, the new funding required

for implementation must compete with other priorities in the context of the President’s Budget.

Before I provide specific comments on S. 1036 and S. 1366, I would like to take

this opportunity to inform you of the latest efforts undertaken by the Department

to understand and combat CWD.

RECENT DEPARTMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The Department manages about one in every five acres of land in the United

States and has a variety of stewardship responsibilities for our natural resources.

Through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Park Service (NPS), the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and

the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Department provides assistance to, cooperates with and, in some cases, co-manages wildlife with states and tribes to ensure

healthy, viable wildlife populations.

Through increased surveillance and monitoring, CWD has been discovered in freeranging deer or elk in eight states, including Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah,

New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The possibility for detection of

this disease in additional states, coupled with the little information we know about

the nature and spread of this disease, increases the urgency and need to find effective means of detection and control.

With this in mind, we recognize that states and tribes possess primary responsibility for management of resident fish and wildlife within their borders. However,

in order to successfully combat CWD, we believe we must continue to employ an

approach that is built on the strengths of Federal agencies and state and tribal entities. Using this approach, the Department conducts research into the biology and

management of this disease, provides wildlife-related laboratory services, offers

technical advice and assistance to our partners, and works in close cooperation with

the states. Additionally, we are working to foster and facilitate close working relationships with private landowners and incorporate their needs into surveillance

strategies and outbreak responses.

The Department has taken an active role in fiscal year (FY) 2004 by committing

over $4 million to investigate and combat CWD. The funds are used by USGS to

expand research and deliver technical assistance and pertinent biological information about the disease to Federal and state agencies. The NPS is continuing its monitoring and surveillance efforts at high risk parks and management efforts at Rocky

Mountain National Park and Wind Cave National Park. This effort is carried out

in concert with the Colorado Division of Wildlife efforts on adjacent State lands. The

FWS is developing field guidelines for enhanced surveillance and the development
39

of disease contingency plans in the event that the National Wildlife Refuge System

detects the disease within its borders.

Over the past year, the Department has embarked on an aggressive program of

research into the biology of CWD, its hosts, and its transmission pathways. In addition, USGS and its partners are working to develop methods needed to identify diseased animals before signs of the disease are apparent. During fiscal year 2003 and

2004, the USGS committed a total of $2.7 million to its CWD program.

The Department’s land management bureaus have also contributed to the application of science in the management of Federal lands under their control. Most prominently, the NPS, which manages more than 84 million acres contained in 388 park

units, is extremely concerned about CWD and the potential impacts this disease

could have upon the wildlife resources of the parks and adjacent lands. To date,

deer and elk with CWD have been detected in only two National Parks, Rocky

Mountain National Park in Colorado and Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota.

The disease was first documented in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, in

1981. Based on samples taken from live deer at the park, the prevalence of infection

for deer is about 5–6 percent, roughly the same for animals in the area surrounding

the park. The prevalence of the disease in elk in areas adjacent to the park was

estimated by the State of Colorado at 1–4 percent, and is likely similar within the

park. The park is continuing tactical management activities for CWD within the

Park and collaborative efforts on research and joint strategy development with the

Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW). The park is culling deer and elk with clinical

signs of the disease and deer that test positive for CWD using tonsillar biopsy. Additionally, an Environmental Impact Statement for the park’s Elk and Vegetation

Management Plan is in preparation.

The first case of CWD at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, was detected

in November 2002. The park has stepped up surveillance and live testing of deer

and has to date documented CWD in five deer and two elk. The park continues a

collaborative planning effort with the State of South Dakota on an elk management

plan. Live animal testing efforts, using tonsillar biopsy, and removal of CWD positive deer will also continue as an important management approach there.

Due to their proximity to nearby infected wild deer and elk herds, CWD can also

threaten wildlife on adjacent Federal lands, including Yellowstone National Park,

in Wyoming and Montana, Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado,

and Agate Fossil Beds and Scotts Bluff National Monuments in western Nebraska.

In addition to funding investigations of CWD at Rocky Mountain National Park

and Wind Cave National Park with Service-wide Natural Resource Preservation and

Protection project funding, the NPS received additional funds in fiscal year 2004 to

address emerging diseases, especially CWD. The NPS is fielding a CWD Response

Team, modeled after the highly successful exotic plant management teams which it

uses to combat nonindigenous plants in park lands, to continue and expand on the

NPS’s ability to respond quickly to CWD issues in park units. The NPS is also continuing collaboration with researchers at Colorado State University investigating

CWD epidemiology, transmission, and pathology.

The FWS has been assisting states in CWD monitoring and surveillance, as it develops field guidelines at a national level for coordinated monitoring and surveillance. These guidelines are being designed collaboratively with the states to help determine CWD distribution and movement. In addition, disease contingency plans

are being coordinated with states to manage CWD in the event that the National

Wildlife Refuge System detects the disease within its borders. New detections of

CWD in Wyoming and expansion in Nebraska deer indicate that CWD poses a critical threat to national cervid resources. Similarly, elk and deer at the National Elk

Refuge and Ft. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge are in the path of potential CWD

expansions. FWS has conducted CWD training workshops covering the eight states

of its Mountain-Prairie Region, which included participation of partners and Native

American tribes.

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH EFFORTS

As an example of our commitment to cooperate with States on this issue, USGS

recently developed a program to work cooperatively with six states affected by CWD:

Colorado, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah. This $300,000

effort has helped initiate projects that will develop critical information on issues

ranging from deer movements and ecology to the develoment of theraputic agents.

In December 2002, USGS coordinated efforts with state, Federal, and university

partners to develop a strategy to assist agencies in their development of surveillance

programs. This document, ‘‘Surveillance Strategies for Detecting Chronic Wasting
40

Disease in Free-ranging Deer and Elk’’ represents another important cooperative effort.

New USGS research initiated within the past year addresses the CWD problem

using both laboratory and field approaches. Through the USGS National Wildlife

Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, we have initiated studies with Montana State

University to develop a serum test for CWD biomarkers to facilitate early detection

of the disease. These investigators are also working on a rapid, strain-specific

immunoassay for CWD that will help detect differences in strains among populations and newly emerging strains that may appear over time. We are also working

with the Wyoming Department of Fish and Game to establish a CWD tissue bank

to provide biological tissue resources for research projects.

In addition, USGS scientists working with those at Michigan State University and

the University of Wisconsin are looking at specific immune system genes that have

been shown to influence transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) pathogenesis. The purpose of this investigation is to determine if there is an association

between specific genes and CWD resistance in wild white-tailed deer. There are several field studies underway by the USGS Wisconsin Cooperative Research Unit in

Madison, Wisconsin in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and

the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Other evaluations underway include a look at the practice of feeding and baiting

deer, in order to determine if this increases the risk of transmission in wild deer,

and the role of small mammals and scavengers that feed on deer carcasses is being

investigated in the context of the disease cycle. Also, the potential for other wildlife

species to contract CWD is being studied in the intensive deer management zone

in Wisconsin. Genetics relationships among deer with CWD are also under investigation. Results from these studies will ultimately be used in developing risk assessment and epidemiological models. The USGS National Biological Information

Infrastructure (NBII) has established a Wildlife Disease Information Node that

highlights activities and information related to CWD to assist in data sharing across

organizations.

The Department has also worked in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, as well as universities, state wildlife management and agricultural agencies, to develop a coordinated management approach to addressing CWD. This National CWD Plan approach, released in June 2002, includes strategies for communication, information dissemination, diagnostics, disease management, research, and

surveillance. The Department has also recently participated with the states and Department of Agriculture in preparing the Progress Report to the National CWD

Plan.

DEPARTMENTAL VIEWS ON S. 1036 AND S. 1366

The potential for detection of CWD in free-ranging deer and elk in additional

states points out the need for continued coordination in the effort to manage this

disease. S. 1036 and S. 1366 would address this need by directing the Department,

through the USGS, the NPS, and the FWS, to undertake work on several fronts important to limiting the distribution and occurrence of CWD.

As previously noted, the Department supports the concepts embodied in these

bills, particularly the recognition of the critical role played by state wildlife management agencies, universities, and NGO’s in limiting the distribution and occurrence

of CWD. I should note that, in fact, the Department has already initiated work on

several of these important initiatives, and we have done so in close coordination

with states, tribes, and other Federal agencies.

Generally S. 1366 would authorize the Secretary, through the FWS, to make

grants to states and tribes to assist in the development of and implementation of

long-term management strategies, and to state wildlife management agencies to assist in responding to CWD outbreaks in wild cervid populations. We note that the

state grant programs authorized by this section appear duplicative of the Fish and

Wildlife Service’s existing authority to make state wildlife grants.

S. 1036 provides for a multi-agency cooperative effort against CWD by the Departments of the Interior (through Title I) and Agriculture (through II). Section 101 of

S. 1036 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to allocate funds directly to state

wildlife agencies for the purpose of developing and implementing CWD management

strategies. The criteria provided for the allocation of funds address the need to

prioritize this financial support based on the relative rate of incidence, state financial commitments to CWD programs, integration of state policies related to CWD

management, and the need to respond rapidly to disease outbreaks in new areas of

infection. This grant program also appears duplicative of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s state wildlife grants program.
41

Sections 102, 103, and 104 of S. 1036 would, generally, direct the Secretary to establish a modeling program to predict the spread of CWD in wild deer and elk;

using existing authorities, a CWD surveillance and monitoring program on Federal

lands; and, finally, using existing authorities, a national, internet-based repository

of information on CWD.

The Department supports modeling efforts, as well as the development of a national data respository. We believe the need for sharing information is critical to

making informed, science-based, management decisions. Such a data base will take

full advantage of our existing capabilities in biology, mapping, and scientific data

base development. Maintaining CWD-related data on both wild and captive populations will facilitate integrated analyses and allow practical ‘‘lessons learned’’ in diagnosis, surveillance, and control to be shared rapidly among a wide range of users.

In fact, through its National Biological Information Infrastructure, the USGS is already developing a prototype Wildlife Disease Information Network, which will include a CWD national data repository for scientific, technical, and geospatial information. CWD data will be collected through state and Federal agencies, tribes, and

other sources. However, in terms of the data base suggested by this legislation, we

believe that it should be developed in coordination with Department of Agriculture,

which has oversight responsibility for captive cervids.

As dicussed above, the establishment of surveillance and monitoring programs are

already underway. The NPS is currently conducting surveillance programs and

managing the disease on national park lands, and the FWS is finalizing a plan for

surveillance on National Wildlife Refuges. The USGS has assisted both state and

Federal agencies in the design considerations for surveillance, and will continue its

research on critical aspects of the disease ecology and impacts.

CONCLUSION

The Department’s role as stewards of our natural resources and our strong cooperative relationship with states and other partners have allowed us to facilitate development of a coordinated strategy to combat CWD. We fully support the concepts

advanced by these bills, and offer to work with the Committee to ensure that, if enacted, these bills provide an efficient and effective use of our resources and authorities.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement and I am pleased to respond to your

questions.

RESPONSES BY CHARLES G. GROAT TO QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR ALLARD

Question 1. Several witnesses at the hearing as in your statement and testimony,

mentioned the national management plan. Congress has demanded a final plan—

why has the final plan not been promulgated? What is the status of the national

plan?

Response. In June 2002, a task force representing Federal agencies, state wildlife

management agencies, academia, and other stakeholders released the ‘‘Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease

in Wild and Captive Cervids’’ (National Plan). This plan listed broad goals and actions needed to meet the many challenges posed by chronic wasting disease (CWD).

A progress report on the National Plan’s implementation was delivered to the Colorado and Wisconsin Congressional delegations on May 27, 2004.

Question 2. How has your spending aligned with the spending recommended in

the draft management plan?

Response. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is using the technical aspects of the

National Plan to set research priorities for its $2.7 million CWD program. Current

studies address transmission of the disease, disease ecology and wild cervid populations, genetic resistance, environmental persistence and transmission, and adapting/developing rapid, live animal tests for wildlife.

Question 3. In your opinion, does CWD pose a greater threat for wild cervid populations or captive cervids? If the wild cervid population is more at risk than captives, do you believe the two departments are receiving adequate appropriations for

their respective roles in CWD management?

Response. Due to the large number of unknowns regarding CWD, it is difficult

to compare the relative risk to captive herds versus wild populations. Clearly, the

disease has been a problem in both. It does appear that traditional disease intervention methods, such as those used by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), have been largely successful in

addressing CWD within the captive cervid populations. These methods include early
42

detection and quarantine, as well as depopulation and indemnification of owners of

affected herds.

Management options for wild, free-ranging populations of deer and elk are much

more complex and need further research. As a responsible steward of the National

Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and other public lands, the Department of the Interior must balance many competing demands for its limited resources. The two Departments are working together to develop a coordinated effort to deal with this disease in both captive and wild cervids.

Regardless of whether CWD poses a greater overall risk to wild or captive cervids,

it is clear that our limited understanding of this disease will continue to constrain

its effective long-term management, especially with regard to wild, free-ranging populations.

RESPONSES BY CHARLES G. GROAT TO QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR FEINGOLD

Question 1. USDA currently has a line item in the APHIS budget for CWD. You

noted that Interior distributes funds for CWD from some larger accounts. What is

the process or formula that Interior uses to make these allocations of funds? What

criteria are used to rank funding priorities?

Response. The Department of the Interior is working closely with the states and

the USDA to follow the recommendations set forth in the CWD National Plan.

There is no set formula; instead we identify internal needs and also hold coordination meetings with states to review current information, identify priorities, and fund

the more urgent needs that will deliver the greatest amount of information required

for management of the disease. The coordination meetings are well received by

states and have resulted in cross-state cooperation in research areas. The most recent multi-state coordination meeting, held in April 2004, resulted in plans for a

workshop to bring states, USGS, and other Federal agencies together to share research results and set priorities for research and management for the next year.

Question 2. Both you and Dr. John Clifford at the Agriculture Department outlined the research agendas of your respective agency. What is the current distribution of the research funds and from what account in Interior’s budget does the

money come? What is the status of the research and development on a live animal

test for CWD?

Response. USGS has a $2.7 million effort in CWD research. All of these funds are

allocated through the USGS budget, under the Biological Research and Monitoring

sub activity. Most of these funds support our base program and are allocated to our

science centers to conduct CWD research. A total of $300,000 is made available to

states to support cooperative research efforts.

As discussed in Question 4 below, a live animal test involving the analysis of tonsil tissue has been successfully used to detect CWD in live, free-ranging deer for

several years. Because this is currently the only technique available, research is focusing on identifying sampling methods that are easier and less invasive and are

more effective in elk, and on testing methods that could be performed more rapidly.

For example, USGS recently began a study in cooperation with Montana State University that will evaluate the possibility of a serum biomarker for detecting CWD

in early, pre-clinical stages.

Question 3. Both you and Dr. Clifford discussed efforts to develop data bases to

track CWD information. You indicated that the data bases should be developed

through coordination between agencies. What is the status of development of this

data base at Interior? Is the data base linked between the agencies, such as that

being developed by USDA? If not, what are the plans to combine the data and share

information? Who currently has access to this information, and what are the plans

for future access to the data?

Response. The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) received

$250,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2004 for CWD information management initiatives. Efforts are underway to finalize both the functional and technical requirements for a

web-based national CWD data clearinghouse (data base). The NBII Wildlife Disease

Information Node is working closely with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center

in the development of this national CWD data base. We are constructing the data

base to accommodate CWD research, monitoring, and surveillance information contributed by participating state, Federal, and tribal agencies and other organizations.

Our objective for 2004 is to create a prototype that includes CWD data from two

to four states and other interested CWD data holders. We are working with USDA/

APHIS Veterinary Services to determine how best to integrate data from captive
43

animals with this prototype; our technical plan is to make the USGS/NBII and

USDA/APHIS CWD data bases interoperable.

Participating data providers will choose the amount and type of data they wish

to provide to the prototype. Through this prototype, participating organizations will

have the ability to browse, query, report, and visualize basic data, and to test it.

Testers of the initial prototype will be asked to recommend changes to data collection input screen designs. We expect to demonstrate the CWD national data base

prototype at the September 2004 IAFWA annual conference general session and at

several committee meetings.

Once a truly national CWD data clearinghouse is developed, contributed data will

be protected by a secure password system, with access to the data base itself restricted in accordance with the negotiated agreements among participating agencies

and organizations.

In addition to the CWD data base, a web-based information resource containing

summary data for general public use is also slated for development. Federal, state,

and tribal agency participants at a June 2003 CWD data standards meeting proposed that summary data not of a sensitive nature be made available and accessible

to the general public.

Question 4. In your testimony, you indicated that ‘‘live animal testing efforts,

using tonsillar biopsy . . . will also continue as an important management approach

there.’’ It is my understanding from conversations with Wisconsin deer farmers that

there is no live animal test for CWD currently available. What is the current practice of using tonsillar biopsies in the management of CWD? What is the scientific

basis for this practice and how effective is it?

Response. A live animal test utilizing immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing of tonsil tissue has been reported in peer-reviewed scientific literature and has been used

successfully for several years to detect CWD in live, free-ranging mule deer and

white-tailed deer before the appearance of clinical signs of the disease. The test uses

the same approach developed to detect scrapie in live domestic sheep.

The National Park Service, here in the Department, and the Colorado Division

of Wildlife have successfully used tonsillar biopsies as a live-animal CWD surveillance tool for wild, free-ranging deer in some instances for approximately 2 years.

The process involves the capture of deer, chemical immobilization, and collection of

a small sample (biopsy) of tonsil tissue. A radio transmitter is attached to each animal prior to release. The sample is submitted to a diagnostic laboratory where the

tissue sample is tested for the presence of CWD-associated prions using IHC. Animals testing positive are identified and located via radio telemetry and subsequently

euthanized. Tonsillar biopsies have been used in Rocky Mountain National Park,

Wind Cave National Park and several states (especially suburban environments)

where hunter harvest is insufficient or unavailable for herd surveillance.

Tonsillar biopsies have several benefits. The test has been useful for detecting

CWD-positive deer particularly in protected areas or in populations where hunter

harvest is low (i.e., not many deer are killed by hunters). Additionally, CWD-associated prions can be detected in the lymphatic system of deer, including lymphatic

follicles in the tonsils, months before the onset of clinical signs of disease. As a result, infected animals can be removed from the population earlier, theoretically reducing the probability of disease spread.

While tonsillar biopsies have been used in some limited situations where intensive

management is possible, it is not an ideal test for wide-scale application. Tonsillar

biopsy is a relatively invasive technique and requires expertise in application to obtain a usable sample. The cost and effort required to capture free-ranging deer for

tonsillar biopsy, or collection of any diagnostic sample directly from the individual,

is high. Because the biopsy sample must be submitted to a laboratory for testing

to determine disease status, the deer must be located again for management action

if a positive sample is detected. An additional limitation to the test, and potentially

other diagnostic tests that may be developed, is that the prion protein is not commonly detected in the lymphoid tissues of elk before clinical signs of the disease appear, as is the case with deer. Therefore, tonsillar biopsy is currently most applicable to deer. Finally, because CWD is a slowly progressing disease, a negative tonsil

biopsy is not proof that the animal is in fact CWD-negative. Early in the disease

course there is insufficient accumulation of prion protein to be detected using available technology.

In addition to other research, a recently initiated, collaborative project between

the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and the University of Montana is investigating the development of a blood-based live animal test for CWD. Researchers

have noted that CWD prions can be detected in the lymphatic system of infected

animals many months before the onset of clinical signs. Scientists believe that meta-
44

bolic byproducts (biomarkers) related to early infection may exist and may be detectable in the blood of infected animals. Development and refinement of more efficient

and effective tests for elk and deer will likely be long-term efforts.

STATEMENT OF RUSSELL GEORGE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLORADO DEPARTMENT

OF NATURAL RESOURCES, WASHINGTON, DC

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee.

I am Russell George, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the

management of chronic wasting disease, commonly referred to as CWD, and in particular the role of the Federal Government in helping to address this disease. I appreciate the past support and leadership of Congress on the subject of CWD, an

issue of considerable importance to the State of Colorado and to many other states

across the country as well.

CWD IN COLORADO

Prior to 2002, we in Colorado believed with some confidence that CWD was confined to populations of wild deer and elk in the northeastern portion of our state.

That assumption was based in part on more than two decades of work on CWD conducted in cooperation with our colleagues in Wyoming, at Colorado State University

(CSU) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, 2 years ago we detected CWD in deer and elk

herds on Colorado’s western slope, requiring us to significantly expand our CWD

surveillance and customer service efforts at considerable expense.

COLORADO ASSISTANCE TO OTHER STATES

Since then CWD has regrettably been detected in several other states as well. In

response, Colorado willingly shared its experiences with wildlife officials from those

states in order to help them understand and combat this wildlife disease. For example, we have shared with those states information not only on the disease itself, but

also regarding rapid testing procedures and our protocols for surveillance and management. As a result, the knowledge that we have gained and the programs we have

initiated in Colorado are often used as a model by others. I am pleased that the

pioneering CWD work done in Colorado and Wyoming have allowed other states to

save scarce funds and limited personnel time by enabling them to focus on initiatives, technologies and approaches that we already have demonstrated to be effective.

STATE NEEDS FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE

Allow me to assure you that no state understands better than Colorado the tremendous resources wildlife agencies will have to commit to CWD programs now and

in the future. As I’ve noted, Colorado has invested heavily in tackling the challenge

of CWD and we have done so largely with state funds, especially revenues derived

from the sale of hunting licenses.

But I think it is now clear that Congress and Federal agencies have an important

role in providing additional support to help states fight this disease. I continue to

recommend that the Federal role should focus heavily on contributing additional

funding to state efforts, delivered through already-existing mechanisms and agencies (e.g., USDA and Interior). I do not believe any new programs or institutions

are required.

IMPORTANCE OF STATE PRIMACY

Earlier congressional initiatives on CWD, including legislation, direction to Federal agencies, and critically needed funding, have been helpful to many states. I am

also pleased to report that those efforts have recognized the primacy of the States

in policymaking authority with regard to wildlife management, both in general

terms and specifically with respect to CWD. I thank you for that. The recognition

of primacy remains critically important to the states.

HIGHLIGHTS OF COLORADO EFFORTS

I would like to take a moment to highlight some of the actions taken by Colorado

over the past 3 years in response to CWD. We have:

• Coordinated with county and local governments and private landowners to reduce deer populations in areas of especially high prevalence.
45

• Redirected significant funding and personnel to CWD control efforts. Since

2002, we have created and filled eight new positions focused on CWD control efforts,

and reallocated $3 million in annual funding to those efforts. Those staffing and

funding shifts have occurred within the limits of a largely flat budget picture and

very tight personnel limits.

• Increased coordination and cooperation between the Colorado Department of

Agriculture (CDOA), Colorado’s Department of Public Health and the Environment,

CSU and the Division of Wildlife on CWD issues.

• Initiated and completed important research on transmission mechanisms, rapid

diagnostic approaches, live-animal testing, and outbreak dynamics that will be key

in refining management and surveillance approaches for CWD.

• Joined with CSU and CDOW to implement an extensive CWD surveillance and

testing program for wild elk and deer. We were able to offer statewide testing of

hunter-killed deer and elk while helping to CSU to validate a new rapid test that

provided results in hours instead of months and allowed for large-volume testing.

As a direct result of that experience, we understand that the new test is now being

considered by the USDA and Canada for screening large numbers of cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

• Developed and implemented an electronic data capture system into our sample

submission and collection system, thereby greatly improving both scientific data

gathering and customer service aspects of our ongoing CWD surveillance program.

• Involved volunteers from the Colorado Veterinary Medical Associations, Federal

agencies, conservation organizations and the general public in an extensive surveillance and testing program for CWD.

• With this cooperative and integrated effort, we have succeeded in testing more

than 45,000 wild deer and elk for CWD over the last two hunting seasons with most

results made available to the hunter within 2 weeks of receipt of the sample. The

CDOA and the Division of Wildlife continue to coordinate, develop, and adopt comprehensive regulations that govern the importation, intrastate transportation and

surveillance of captive deer and elk. As you can see, we already have in place programs to study, monitor, and manage CWD, in both captive and wild populations.

SPECIFIC COLORADO NEEDS

Despite the unprecedented actions taken by Colorado and other states, it is clear

much more work remains to be done. The needs of the Colorado Division of Wildlife,

the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDOA) and CSU are extensive and beyond

the ability of our state to fully fund alone. We believe Federal funding for this work

is a wise investment, not only for the wildlife resource, but for the thousands of jobs

dependent on wildlife recreation. In Colorado alone, we estimate that three quarters

of a billion dollars in economic activity is generated from hunting annually. That

activity is especially important to rural towns and businesses.

Colorado has identified several initiatives and programs that are in need of additional support if we are to be able to respond effectively to CWD in the future. And

as I described earlier, the work we do in Colorado is often used by other states as

well. Those needs include:

Upgrading Certified Labs

$3.5 million to initiate the planning and construction of a new veterinary diagnostic lab on the CSU campus in Fort Collins with the potential to share laboratory

space and equipment and co-house staff from the CDOW, the CDOA and the University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. This new laboratory would help to address a number of regional animal health needs, including but not limited to CWD

and other prion disease diagnostics. The CSU Board of Governors supports the new

lab.

$4 million to upgrade disposal processes at four CWD sampling/testing facilities—

in Grand Junction, Craig, Fort Collins and Rocky Ford. I would like to emphasize

that these upgrades will be necessary if ‘‘recommendations’’ under consideration by

Region 8 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are imposed. The rules

would govern our CWD labs’ waste streams and our methods of carcass disposal.

We urge the EPA to continue proceeding slowly and cautiously, and only after consulting with external third party prion disease experts, other Federal agencies and

all potentially affected states (including their wildlife, public health and agriculture

agencies).

Research

$2 million for research on therapeutics, live animal diagnostics, environmental detection, field diagnostics, genetic resistance and enhanced rapid laboratory tests.
46

$5 million to relocate and upgrade our live animal research facility. The existing

facility, which has been a key resource in understanding many important aspects

of CWD, is located on property that is under a lease that will expire soon and is

not likely to be renewed by the property owner. This project will provide several

Colorado institutions the capability to continue a strong tradition of collaborative

animal research, and is a much more cost-effective approach than creating a duplicate research effort elsewhere.

Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of Wild Deer and Elk

Colorado needs assistance with our annual expenses directly related to CWD operations (expanded surveillance, testing, reporting, culling, carcass disposal, etc.). Expenditures are estimated to be approximately $3 million annually for the foreseeable

future.

Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of Captive Deer and Elk Herds

We estimate Colorado would require $150,000 for detecting, measuring and monitoring incidence of CWD in captive Colorado herds. We also anticipate needing as

much as $1 million for reducing the incidence of CWD in captive herds (depopulation, indemnification, and carcass disposal) should additional infected herds be

found.

Education and Outreach

Finally, states like Colorado need support in the development of brochures, fact

sheets, videos, training clinics, website enhancement, etc. for agency staff, hunters,

veterinarians, meat processors, taxidermists, conservation groups and the general

public.

CONCLUSION

As I conclude, I feel it is important to note that the $3 million in funding redirected by the Colorado Division of Wildlife represent funds from our dwindling reserve balance. We are drawing on those reserve funds, in addition to diligently

reprioritizing existing resources. Continuing to expend at this level will soon begin

to compromise other important wildlife programs—such as species recovery, education and habitat protection.

Colorado greatly appreciates the $240,000 in assistance received from USDAAPHIS-Veterinary Services this past year, as well as the promise of $70,000 in additional support for ongoing CWD research from USDI, but clearly the bulk of our

work is still being funded from within our state, and as I’ve noted, those resources

are quickly disappearing.

In summary, I would like to emphasize that there are many opportunities for the

Federal Government to assist States in CWD management and research. I urge congressional support for legislation and funding that will allow state wildlife agencies

to effectively fight CWD. I also urge you to provide that assistance through the most

streamlined and efficient mechanisms available, in particular already-established

grant programs in both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the

Interior.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you and

the Subcommittee. Colorado’s deer and elk are among our state’s most treasured

natural resources. Your efforts to help us protect this valued resource are greatly

appreciated.

I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have.

STATEMENT OF GARY J. TAYLOR, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL

ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES, WASHINGTON, DC

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to share with you the Association’s

perspectives on S. 1366 and the status of management of Chronic Wasting Disease

(CWD) in general. I am Gary Taylor, Legislative Director of the Association, and accompanying me today is Dr. Tom Thorne, a wildlife veterinarian with the Wyoming

Game and Fish Department, and Chair of the Association’s Fish and Wildlife Health

subcommittee on Chronic Wasting Disease. All 50 State fish and wildlife agencies

are members of the Association. The Association looks forward to continuing to work

with you in particular to provide the state and Federal agencies with the fiscal resources that they need to manage this disease. Further, we continue to urge that

decisions with respect to management of this disease be well grounded in science.

We continue to stress the need for comprehensive Federal agency cooperation and

coordination to effectively manage this disease. And finally, we will share with you
47

some information regarding the progress of CWD management as outlined in the

implementation strategy deriving from the national plan.

The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies was founded in 1902

as a quasi-governmental organization of public agencies charged with the protection

and management of North America’s fish and wildlife resources. The Association’s

governmental members include the fish and wildlife agencies of the states, provinces, and Federal Governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. All 50

states are members. The Association has been a key organization in promoting

sound resource management and strengthening Federal, state, and private cooperation in protecting and managing fish and wildlife and their habitats in the public

interest.

Federal and state agencies involved in this endeavor concur that, collectively, all

the authorities that are necessary to manage this disease currently exist in law.

While we therefore are not convinced of the need for further authorizing legislation,

the Association wishes to commend Chairman Crapo, Sen. Allard, Sen. Feingold and

others in particular for their diligence in ensuring that a coordinated Federal state

effort is directed at this issue. What is most needed are adequate congressional appropriations to the Federal agencies involved for both their efforts and to pass

through to the state fish and wildlife agencies, state universities and state agriculture departments, to manage CWD. The Association looks forward to working

with you to increase appropriations for these purposes.

Let me summarize where we are in management of this disease by reflecting on

the good progress that has been made over the last almost 2 years. About 2 years

ago, the US Department of Agriculture and US Department of the Interior convened

a Federal task force to coordinate CWD management. Under the chairmanship of

Bobby Acord, Administrator, APHIS, and Steve Williams, Director, U.S. Fish Wildlife Service, they quickly recognized the need for and utility of adding state fish and

wildlife agency representatives to the Task Force. That was expeditiously done and

6 working groups each comprised of Federal, state and university representatives,

ultimately drafted the national plan that the Task Force released to the public (‘‘A

Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wildlife and Captive Cervids’’) on June 26, 2002. The plan proposes

goals and actions and serves as a blueprint for future activities to identify the extent of the disease and management actions needed to eliminate it or prevent its

spread. Let me commend Bob Acord and Steve Williams for their patience and vigilance in overseeing it, and all participants for their dedication and diligence in completing the plan.

Subsequently, an Implementation Document for said plan was produced on October 11, 2002 by a team of 3 State fish and wildlife agency representatives, 4 USDA,

and 4 USDI representatives working with input from a myriad of wildlife management and animal health professionals from across the Nation. The Implementation

Document steps down the goals in the national plan to action items, assigns agency

responsibilities, and identifies timelines and budgets for each of 6 categories of

diagnostics, disease management, communications, research, surveillance, and information dissemination. This Implementation Plan effort chaired by Bruce Morrison,

NE Game and Parks Commission, represents what we believe is the best and most

current thinking with respect to what is necessary to successfully manage this disease. The budget recommendations were thoughtfully constructed under the constraint of ‘‘reasonable and realistic’’—they are not ‘‘pie in the sky’’ requests. These

budget recommendations are the basis for the Association’s appropriations request

that we have asked each of our State Directors to encourage their Members of Congress to support.

In April 2003, APHIS made available $4 Million in fiscal year 2003 appropriated

funds to the State fish and wildlife agencies for surveillance and management of

CWD. Approximately $5 Million will similarly be made available from APHIS in fiscal year 2004. In designing the protocol for distribution of the funds, APHIS engaged Dr. John Fischer (Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study), Dr. Tom

Thorne (WY Game and Fish Department) and myself to design an appropriate and

effective process. Collectively with APHIS we arrived at a formula that established

3 tiers of States: Tier 1 includes states with known occurrence of CWD in free ranging cervids; Tier 2 includes states adjacent to Tier 1 states or states with known

CWD occurrence in farmed or captive cervids; and Tier 3 includes all other states.

While one could argue the need for more money in one tier versus the other, we

felt this was equitable, advanced our knowledge of presence/absence of the disease

which is one of the most critical pieces of information we need, and assisted with

the tremendous cost of managing the disease. The solution to getting more funds

to states with CWD in free-ranging cervids, of course, is to grow the appropriated

dollars, a goal to which we are all committed. Many thanks to Bob Acord and his
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staff at APHIS for both making these funds available and for enlisting the State

fish and wildlife agencies in designing an equitable protocol that will expeditiously

get money to them through a cooperative agreement.

Let me now reflect a little bit on the need for continued, comprehensive Federal

agency participation in a more coordinated effort to manage CWD based on sound

science. Attention to all Transmissible Spongiform Encephalapothies (TSE) has increased dramatically in the last year, not just because of CWD, but most recently

due to the diagnosis of Bovine Spongiform Encephalapothy (BSE) in a domestic cow

in Washington, and last year in Canada. Unfortunately there is a great deal of misinformation and anxiety among the general public that ill-founded Federal agency

proposals may exacerbate.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has promulgated regulations for the

rendering industry regarding the ‘‘Use of Material from Deer and Elk in Animal

Feed’’. We believe these regulations unfortunately hinder animal health and wildlife

management agency efforts to identify new areas where CWD occurs and simultaneously increase, rather than decrease, the likelihood of CWD positive carcasses entering the non-ruminant animal food chain.

The Association believes the regulations are an overreaction and simply cannot

be supported with good science. CWD is not BSE. BSE is known to be a food-borne

disease and consumption of material containing BSE—contaminated tissues is the

only known natural mode of transmission of BSE. For this reason, the use of materials derived from any ruminant, including cattle, sheep, deer and elk, cannot be

fed to ruminant animals according to 21CFR589.2000. By contrast, CWD is known

to be transmitted laterally from affected deer and elk to susceptible deer and elk;

and there is no evidence CWD is a food borne disease transmissible to non-ruminant

animals.

In addition to the inaccurate message it portrays, the Association is most concerned about the provision in the FDA regulation that would trigger a recall of feed

or feed ingredients containing material from a CWD positive animal. This actually

hinders our ability to find new areas where CWD occurs because it promotes avoidance of CWD testing, thereby increasing the chances for CWD to go undetected and

for positive animals to enter the animal feed system. Experience has demonstrated

that current CWD surveillance techniques can detect the disease in a new area

while at relatively low prevalence but it takes higher prevalence before discovery

if detection is delayed. Early detection offers greater opportunities to eliminate the

disease and early detection depends on the cooperation of hunters, meat processors,

taxidermists and renderers. We are concerned that the FDA regulations would

hinder this type of cooperation.

Finally, the Association continues to be concerned about some draft recommendations that the USEPA has been working on in their Region 8 Office that could likewise seriously impede our ability to detect and manage CWD in wild and captive

cervids. The Region 8 proposal would require certain standards and permits for

treatment of wastewater from laboratory facilities handling animals or samples

from animals with CWD. Labs wishing to continue or initiate work with CWD would

incur huge costs to come into compliance or would have to cease their efforts related

to CWD. Should this come to fruition, the Association is concerned that the next

application of these standards and permit requirements would be to meat processors, taxidermists, and rendering plants. Once again, the Association believes this

proposal is not science-based and seeks to impose a standard of ‘‘no risk’’ as opposed

to acceptable ‘‘low risk’’. Action of this type would seriously affect the cooperation

of hunters, meat processors, taxidermists and renderers and thereby impede our

ability to detect the disease in a new area. Furthermore, these same standards do

not now, nor is EPA proposing that they apply to scrapie, another TSE that has

been around for centuries, and for several decades in the United States.

We are hopeful that a recent EPA Record of Decision that characterizes as pesticides under FIFRA certain chemical agents used to neutralize prions ,thus allowing the EPA to grant exemptions from permit requirements for their use, will obviate the need for further regulation. We are cautiously comfortable with this approach but will continue to encourage greater coordination by EPA with the state

fish and wildlife agencies, state departments of agriculture, and state departments

of environmental quality.

We are further encouraged that both FDA and EPA participated in the last stateFederal CWD task force meeting.

On the issue of funding, Mr. Chairman, we all agree that more is needed, and

the Association is committed to working with you and Congress to make that happen. With respect to fiscal year 2005, the Association and its member state fish and

wildlife agencies are requesting $19.2 Million through appropriation to USDAAPHIS to be granted to the state fish and wildlife agencies for managing CWD in
49

free-ranging cervids. This is approximately $10 Million more than in the President’s

request of approximately $19.5 million, half of which would likely go to management

of CWD in captive cervid herds. We believe the needs in free-ranging cervids compels a higher appropriated amount.

With respect to expeditiously getting money to the state fish and wildlife agencies,

we will work with any Federal agency, but let me suggest the utility of using an

agency that has an existing mechanism for getting grant money to the State fish

and wildlife agencies as the most effective mechanism. As I indicated, USDA-APHIS

has executed cooperative agreements for granting CWD dollars to the State fish and

wildlife agencies and we support this mechanism for funds appropriated in the Agriculture Appropriations bill. In the Department of the Interior, the USFWS has a

long-standing office, machinery and process for annually granting funds from several programs to state fish and wildlife agencies. It seems to us that using these

existing grant mechanisms would be the most expeditious way to deliver funds to

the State fish and wildlife agencies. We are appreciative that S. 1366 recognizes the

utility of using the existing grant mechanism in the USFWS for this purpose for

any funds appropriated in the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

Let me now turn to the heart of this effort: its accomplishments. The most important perspective, of course, is how we are doing on the ground with respect to managing this disease. We are near completing the progress report on the first year’s

effort (October 2002–September 2003) as described in the Implementation Strategy

and I would like to share some information and perspectives from that with

you.These 12 months have seen considerable progress in research, surveillance,

management and information dissemination concerning CWD, but significant additional work needs to be accomplished.

The Implementation Strategy for the National CWD Plan identified budget needs,

excluding funding for environmental compliance activities, of approximately $108

Million over a 3 year period. While a significant portion of these funds are expected

to be congressional appropriations, state and tribal agencies have considerable financial commitment in managing this disease. Despite limited funding, there has

been considerable interagency collaboration and accomplishment regarding CWD

surveillance, management and research.

Perhaps the quickest way to get a perspective on this is to look at some expenditures for fiscal year 2003. Details on all of these activities will be in the final

progress report, expected to be in circulation shortly.

In fiscal year 2003, the USDA agencies (APHIS,ARS,CSREES) expended approximately $18.5 Million. In the same fiscal year, the USDI agencies

(NPS,USGS,USFWS) expended approximately $3.3 Million.

According to a survey conducted by our Association, 44 of the 50 state fish and

wildlife agencies that responded spent a total of $15.2 Million in state money and

an additional $2.7 Million in Pittman-Robertson funds, for a total of approximately

$18 Million in fiscal year 2003.Surveillance and management represented the largest expenditures (over 50 percent of the total), followed by diagnostics (approximately another 20 percent).

In a query of state livestock health agencies, 22 states responding indicated that

their expenditures in fiscal year 2003 were approximately $2.0 Million.

Thus, as you can see, there is a considerable commitment by both state and Federal agencies to manage this disease.

We also have preliminary surveillance results from 2002–2003 to share with you.

Every state is engaged in sampling free-ranging cervids and other ruminants.265

out of 88,935 white-tailed deer tested positive for CWD in that sampling season. 288

out of 15,937 mule deer tested positive and 39 out of 12,843 elk tested positive. Positive tests were not manifest in the other tested species.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the Association looks forward to working with you

to continue to improve our capability to manage this disease. Dr. Thorne and I

would be pleased to answer any questions. Thank you for the opportunity to share

the Association’s perspectives with you.

STATEMENT OF DR. JACK O. WALTHER, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN VETERINARY

MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, DC

Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee for giving the American Veterinary Medical Association the opportunity to come before you today to

speak in support of Senate Bill 1366.

I am Dr. Jack Walther, President of the AVMA. I was born and raised on a small

ranch near Reno and now practice in Elko, Nevada.
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The AVMA represents 86 percent of active veterinarians in the United States.

Our membership consists of 70,000 members, most of whom have treated wildlife

during their careers. In addition, hundreds of veterinarians have a primary professional focus in wildlife medicine. For the past 141 years, the AVMA has worked to

advance the science and art of veterinary medicine. Veterinarians have a long history of positively impacting the health and well being of humans, animals and the

environment. A few noteworthy members of my profession are Dr. Daniel Salmon,

who first described salmonella in 1855, and Dr. Tracey McNamara, who first identified West Nile virus in the United States. Additionally, many of our members are

public servants, such as Dr. Lester Crawford, Acting Commissioner of the Food and

Drug Administration, and Dr. Ron DeHaven, Deputy Administrator of Veterinary

Services at USDA. Veterinary public servants also include the Senator from my

home State of Nevada, Senator Ensign, and the Senator from Colorado, Senator Allard. Today, many veterinarians are dedicating their professional skills to studying

chronic wasting disease and other diseases that effect both animals and humans.

CWD is one of many transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). These are

important diseases worldwide that are of particular concern to the veterinary community. The AVMA was proactive many years ago in addressing this important disease and issue. We developed a scientifically based position statement (attached)

that supports the purposes of Senate Bill 1366.

Our position statement commits the AVMA to:

• disseminating scientific knowledge; • encouraging enhanced surveillance, monitoring, and control programs; and • encouraging governmental support for the development of new rapid diagnostic

tests and control measures.

We recognize and applaud the on-going efforts of the Department of Interior and

the Department of Agriculture, and state and tribal agencies to implement the National Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic

Wasting Disease in Wild and Captive Cervids. Much has been accomplished but

more remains to be done. Additional funds must be allocated for state and tribal

activities to ensure that the outcome of the comprehensive effort will be successful.

At the same time, we urge the Subcommittee to remember the need to address

not only CWD, but also many other diseases impacting both wildlife and livestock.

Some of these diseases also affect both humans and animals, such as brucellosis in

bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone area, brucellosis in feral swine, and tuberculosis in wild deer.

We live in a world of emerging disease threats. TSEs are one such threat. TSEs

in animals include scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and chronic wasting

disease. They all pose serious risks to the health and welfare of animals. For states

and communities that depend on income derived from outdoor activities, including

hunting, these diseases pose serious economic risks.

Colorado Governor Bill Owens recently told a panel of experts and key stakeholders from the public and private sectors that CWD ‘‘affects every Coloradoan’’

and has the potential to severely damage hunting, tourism and related industries

as well as the state’s unique natural resources.

Additionally, the most recent statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Natural

Resources estimate that hunters in Wisconsin spend $897,000,000 annually on supplies, lodging and other expenses.

CWD can have a profound effect on agriculture, wildlife, and zoo management.

Because CWD touches so many stakeholders, it is essential that programs addressing CWD be cooperative in nature. Nowhere is cooperation more vital than between

agriculture and wildlife management agencies and groups at the state, national and

international levels. Disease does not respect fence lines or state and international

borders. CWD has affected deer and elk in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota,

Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

We must work together to find solutions. Effective solutions will require a philosophical and economic commitment to disease surveillance, to disease management,

to diagnostics, and to research.

The AVMA supports Section 4 of the bill that will provide grants to assist states

in responding to CWD outbreaks in wild deer and elk. Additional funding to permit

rapid and effective responses is absolutely essential. We also support Sections 3 and

5 of the bill that provide capacity-building grants to state and tribal wildlife management agencies. These grants will enable implementation of long-term management strategies, including surveillance. Testing is needed in more states and tribal

lands to determine whether the disease exists in new locations. If CWD does exist

in other areas, additional testing is needed to define its prevalence, incidence, and

distribution.
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The extent of testing and surveillance that is needed now, and for the foreseeable

future, exceeds resources available to state departments of natural resources and

tribal organizations. Financial support from the Federal Government will be required to comprehensibly and effectively test wild elk and deer populations.

As an example, Governor Doyle of Wisconsin recently directed that $900,000 be

spent to improve testing capacity for CWD in his state. This amount will support

testing for research and disease management, but does not fund testing of hunterharvested deer. Federal grants are needed to provide additional funds to enable the

states to do more surveillance testing.

The ‘‘Chronic Wasting Disease Financial Assistance Act of 2003’’ positively and

rightfully recognizes and rewards states and tribal governments that have integrated CWD wildlife and agriculture programs. The AVMA supports this

prioritization.

One clause of Section 4 that deserves further study, however, is the language that

assigns priority for funding to states on the basis of previous state expenditures on

CWD management and research. We agree with the idea that states should be rewarded for being proactive in managing CWD. However, states with fewer available

resources may be inadvertently precluded from receiving grants. They may have

been unable to fund surveillance programs and, therefore, have not been able to detect CWD in their state. These states should be given grants to support surveillance

programs to determine whether CWD exists within their borders. CWD could potentially affect the entire United States therefore, Congress must be sure that states

and tribal governments with the greatest need receive a fair share of the available

Federal moneys.

Senate Bill 1366 goes a long way in preventing any further negative impact from

CWD on animal health, the environment and our national economy. The leadership,

staff and members of the American Veterinary Medical Association stand ready to

assist in any way that we can in this matter.

In keeping with our official policy, the AVMA has a strong presence and significant positive impact on professional and public education with respect to TSEs. We

keep our members informed through two scientific journals, background materials

(copy attached) on our Web site, and continuing education sessions presented during

the Association’s annual convention. In turn, veterinarians provide accurate and

useful information to clients and the public. To further assist veterinarians in educating the public, the AVMA produced brochures dealing with CWD and BSE. More

than 15,000 copies have been distributed. We regularly respond to public and media

needs for information by issuing print, electronic, and audio news releases, and by

participating in interviews with writers and broadcasters.

TSEs present a serious and possibly growing threat to many of our nation’s animal populations, as well as to state and local economies. Senate Bill 1366 is an important step toward successful control of CWD and we are extremely pleased and

proud to have been afforded an opportunity to appear before you to speak in support

of its passage.

AMERICAN VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION POSITION STATEMENT ON

SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) are important diseases worldwide. The AVMA will disseminate scientific knowledge of the etiology, epidemiology,

prevention, and control of TSEs. AVMA supports and encourages enhanced national

and state surveillance, monitoring, and control programs. The AVMA encourages

the USDA and DHHS to support research for the development of new rapid diagnostic tests, control measures, cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and the zoonotic

potential. The AVMA further encourages FDA to provide educational materials and

to monitor and enforce the mammalian protein ban in ruminant feed. (EB 5/03)

CAUSATIVE AGENT

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) belongs to the family of diseases known as the

transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). The causative agent of CWD has

not been fully characterized, but three possibilities have been proposed: an unconventional virus, a prion (a self-replicating protein), or a virino (incomplete virus)

comprising naked nucleic acid protected by host proteins. The CWD agent does not

invoke a detectable immune response or inflammatory reaction in its host. On the

basis of what is known about other TSEs such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy

and scrapie, it is assumed the causative agent of CWD is extremely resistant to

sterilization processes.
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NATURAL DISTRIBUTION

An infectious, neurologic disease, CWD develops naturally in North American

deer and elk. Species found to be affected include Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer,

white-tailed deer, and black-tailed deer. Chronic wasting disease was first diagnosed

in a Colorado captive elk research facility in 1967, and was identified as a TSE in

1978. It was found in the mid 1980’s in free-ranging deer and elk in adjoining areas

of Colorado and Wyoming. In May of 2001, CWD was identified in deer residing in

the adjacent portion of Nebraska. Free-ranging cervids in Illinois, South Dakota,

New Mexico, Utah, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan have

also been affected. The first infected farmed herd was discovered in South Dakota

in 1996. Chronic wasting disease has also been diagnosed in captive cervids in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

TRANSMISSION

Although many years of research have been conducted, the exact mechanism of

transmission of CWD is still unknown. Currently transmission is believed to be lateral (animal to animal) and to take place through contact with or exchange of bodily

fluids such as saliva, urine, feces, or placental tissue. Evidence also exists suggesting that vertical (mother to offspring) and environmental transmission is possible. Feed contamination is not considered to be a likely means of transmission;

however, supplemental feeding may concentrate populations of cervids and facilitate

animal-to-animal spread.

CLINICAL SIGNS OF CWD IN CERVIDS

Most cases of CWD develop in adult animals. Chronic wasting disease causes progressive degeneration of the central nervous system. The most obvious and consistent clinical sign is progressive weight loss and dehydration. Other clinical signs

include changes in temperament (e.g., loss of fear of humans, nervousness, or

hyperexcitability), changes in behavior (teeth grinding, walking in repetitive patterns in pens), incoordination, polydipsia, polyuria, drooping of the head and ears,

and excessive salivation. Incubation period is typically 18 to 24 months, but can

range up to 36 months. The health of affected animals typically deteriorates over

a period of 12 months after infection. Chronic wasting disease is uniformly fatal.

DIAGNOSIS

At the present time, CWD is diagnosed by postmortem microscopic examination

of brain stem (particularly the obex portion) and lymphoid (lymph nodes and tonsils)

tissues. Lesions of CWD resemble those of other spongiform encephalopathies.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is very sensitive and specific to CWD and is used to

confirm diagnosis by measuring accumulations of proteinase-resistant prion protein

(PRPres) in brain tissues of infected deer and elk. Accumulations of proteinase-resistant prior protein have not been found in uninfected cervids. Positive test results

are not detected until at least 3 months after infection so negative results cannot

confirm the absence of disease (it is possible that the animal is infected, but the

stage of the disease is so early that the prion is not detectable). Colorado researchers have developed an antemortem (live animal) tonsillar biopsy test for CWD,

which appears to work well for mule deer, but not for elk.

PREVENTION

Because transmission mechanisms are still not well understood, it is difficult to

recommend measures to prevent spread of the disease. Surveillance, culling, and

testing are performed in areas where cases of CWD have been identified in an attempt to contain the disease within that endemic area. Unfortunately, no vaccine

or preventatives exist and there is no evidence that immunity to CWD develops.

TREATMENT

No treatment currently exists for cervids with CWD. The disease is uniformly

fatal.

INFECTION CONTROL

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service (APHIS) provides assistance to state officials in diagnosing CWD

and in monitoring international and interstate movements of captive animals to

help prevent its spread. Several state and national appropriations bills have been
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passed to provide funding for much needed research on CWD. In an effort to contain

and eventually eradicate CWD, state and Federal agricultural and wildlife agencies

are taking action including regulating and/or banning interstate movement of captive cervids, enforcing more stringent hunting policies, creating joint task forces,

and developing state-specific guidelines.

Members of the general public, hunters, and owners of cervid game farms must

be informed of the dangers CWD poses to deer and elk populations, and take precautions necessary to reduce transmission. Animals appearing to be ill should be reported to wildlife officials. Deer feeding and baiting should be limited as this is an

activity that brings deer into close contact with one another. Double fencing of captive herds will lessen contact with wild animals, and vigilant surveillance and testing of these herds is recommended. Hunters should avoid harvesting deer or elk

that appear sick; should wear rubber gloves while field dressing animals; should remove all bone and fatty tissue from the meat of the animals; should minimize handling of the brain, spinal cord, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes, or eyes; should avoid

consuming any animal with positive test results for CWD; and should not remove

anything but pure meat (muscle) from endemic sites.

TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES IN OTHER ANIMALS

The family of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) in animals includes scrapie, affecting sheep and goats; transmissible mink encephalopathy; bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as ‘‘mad cow disease,’’

affecting cattle; and, in humans, kuru, classic and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

(CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome, and fatal familial insomnia.

At the present time there is no evidence that CWD is easily transmittable to livestock or other ruminants such as sheep, cattle, or goats under natural conditions.

Livestock housed with infected deer or elk, or those having ingested brain tissue of

infected animals, have not developed the disease. Chronic wasting disease has been

experimentally transmitted to mice, ferrets, mink, goats, squirrel monkeys, and

calves.

IMPLICATIONS OF CWD FOR HUMANS

There is currently no evidence that CWD is naturally transmitted to humans, either through contact with affected animals or by eating meat from infected animals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, has issued the following

statement:

‘‘It is generally prudent to avoid consuming food derived from any animal

with evidence of a TSE. To date, there is no evidence that CWD has been transmitted or can be transmitted to humans under natural conditions. However,

there is not yet strong evidence that such transmissions could not occur. To further assess the possibility that the CWD agent might occasionally cause disease

in humans, additional epidemiologic and laboratory studies could be helpful.

Such studies include molecular characterization and strain typing of the agents

causing CWD in deer and elk and CJD in potentially exposed patients. Ongoing

national surveillance for CJD and other neurologic cases will remain important

for continuing to assess the risk, if any, of CWD transmission to humans.’’

Routine precautions should be taken when handling carcasses of animals that

may be infected.

STATEMENT OF GARY J. WOLFE, PH.D., PROJECT LEADER, CHRONIC WASTING

DISEASE ALLIANCE, MISSOULA, MT

Good morning Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee.

My name is Gary Wolfe and I represent the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance . . .

a coalition of 15 organizations and businesses who are deeply concerned about

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to appear

before you today to share our concerns regarding CWD, an issue of considerable importance to sportsmen across the country. Thank you for giving this serious wildlife

disease issue your attention.

CWD ALLIANCE

I would like to take a moment to share with you a brief history of the CWD Alliance, as it illustrates the significant concern CWD has generated among America’s

sportsmen, conservationists and the outdoor industry.

In January 2002, the Boone and Crockett Club, Mule Deer Foundation and Rocky

Mountain Elk Foundation (three of the nation’s leading sportsmen’s-based, nonprofit
54

wildlife conservation organizations) were becoming increasingly concerned about the

impact CWD was having, and may continue to have, on North America’s wild deer

and elk populations. They were also concerned about the impact this disease may

have upon millions of hunters’ desire and opportunity to hunt deer and elk each fall,

and upon their confidence to put healthful wild venison on their families’ tables. In

response to these concerns, these three organizations initiated a collaborative

project . . . the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.

During the ensuing 2 years, other organizations and businesses joined the Alliance’s effort. The CWD Alliance currently consists of 15 partners and sponsors:

Boone and Crockett Club, Mule Deer Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation,

National Shooting Sports Foundation, Pope and Young Club, Quality Deer Management Association, Wildlife Management Institute, Bowhunting Preservation Alliance, Izaak Walton League of America, Camp Fire Conservation Fund, Dallas Safari

Club, Whitetails Unlimited, Cabela’s (sponsor), Bio-Rad Laboratories (sponsor), and

IDEXX Laboratories (sponsor).

The mission of the CWD Alliance is to promote responsible and accurate communications regarding CWD, and to support strategies that effectively control CWD to

minimize its impact on wild, free-ranging deer and elk populations.

Alliance partners pool resources, share information and cooperate on projects and

activities to positively impact the CWD issue. The Alliance recognizes that appropriate public information and education are vital to the resolution of the CWD dilemma. In an effort to promote responsible, timely and accurate communications the

Alliance has:

• Developed and maintained a comprehensive, informative CWD website to facilitate the public’s access to basic CWD information, breaking CWD news, scientific

literature, recommendations from professional wildlife management agencies, and

links to other CWD information sources. The website (www.cwd-info.org) was

launched in July 2002, and has received more than 257,000 visits.

• Co-sponsored and/or participated in CWD conferences and seminars in numerous locals throughout North America.

• Served as a resource for media sources seeking credible information about

CWD.

• Published responsible and accurate CWD articles in their respective organization’s member magazines.

• Collaborated on the development of a CWD information and training video for

hunters.

• Participated on several interdisciplinary, multi-agency CWD task forces and

committees.

• Participated as a partner with state and Federal agencies to assist with implementing the ‘‘Communications’’ section of the Plan for Assisting States, Federal

Agencies and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild and Captive

Cervids.

Alliance partners and sponsors collectively contributed more than $102,000 during

2002–2003 to support the CWD Alliance project, and have pledged and additional

$83,000 for the Alliance’s 2004 activities.

NATIONAL CWD STRATEGY

The CWD Alliance has actively monitored the responses of the various state and

Federal agencies to CWD, and has participated in numerous planning activities and

task force meetings. We believe there has been an exceptional level of interagency

coordination and cooperation in responding to this wildlife disease crisis.

In June 2002, a task force of Federal agencies and state wildlife management

agencies completed the Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies and Tribes in

Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild and Captive Cervids (National CWD

Plan) and presented it to Congress. The National CWD Plan lays out an aggressive,

coordinated interagency strategy for managing CWD, and was followed-up by an Implementation Document that identified specific actions for addressing CWD. State

wildlife agencies, universities, and Federal agencies have utilized the Implementation Document to guide their response to CWD and have directed funds to the ongoing battle against this disease.

The Implementation Document identified budget needs to address CWD, excluding funding for environmental compliance activities, of $108,360,000 over a 3-year

period. The majority of this funding was identified to come from congressional appropriations, while the remainder would be redirected funds from various Federal,

state, and tribal agencies.

We appreciate the funding Congress has authorized for CWD, and the support

APHIS and the USGS have provided to the state wildlife management agencies.
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Considerable progress has been made, especially in terms of surveillance and management of CWD in free-ranging cervids, research, dissemination of information,

and publication by APHIS of the proposed rules on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

Herd Certification Program and Interstate Movement of Captive Deer and Elk.

However, there has not been adequate Federal funding for full implementation of

the National CWD Plan.

HOW CONGRESS CAN HELP

Significant progress has been made addressing the challenges of managing CWD,

but much more work is needed. State wildlife management agencies are on the front

line of CWD management, surveillance, and research; and are the agencies in greatest need of financial support for CWD activities.

State wildlife agencies have redirected critical wildlife management funds from

other programs to address CWD issues. The International Association of Fish and

Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) reports that state wildlife agencies collectively expended

approximately $15.2M on CWD in fiscal year 2003 (Progress Report on the Implementation Document for the Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies and Tribes

in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild Cervids, October 2002–September

2003). The CWD Alliance is especially concerned that this redirection of limited

state wildlife agency funds is not adequate to address the CWD issue, and will have

negative impacts on other important wildlife management and conservation programs.

We would like to offer the following general recommendations regarding how Congress can support state wildlife management agencies, state agricultural agencies,

tribal governments and Federal agencies in the control of CWD:

• Expanded funding for the National CWD Plan is a top priority. The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) recently identified

$34.15M of CWD funding needs for the fiscal year 2005 Federal budget (Appendix

A). We encourage Congress to seriously consider IAFWA’s recommendations when

determining appropriations for the National CWD Plan in the fiscal year 2005 Federal budget, especially the suggested $19.2M of grants to assist states and tribes.

• Additional legislation granting agencies authority to address CWD or creating

additional bureaucracy is not needed. Successful control and eradication of CWD

will depend upon a cooperative approach and a well-coordinated effort between Federal and state agencies. The respective Federal and state agencies have the necessary authority and mechanisms to address this issue. They have been doing an

exemplary job of coordinating and collaborating with each other; an excellent strategy has been identified via the National CWD Plan; and specific action plans have

been identified in the Implementation Document. Congress can best assist through

the appropriations process.

• Any CWD legislation should recognize and reinforce the principle that state

wildlife agencies have the primary responsibility for managing wild cervid populations. We encourage Congress to rely heavily on the recommendations of the state

wildlife agencies when considering CWD legislation.

• We would like to thank Senators Allard, Feingold and Crapo for introducing

S. 1366, the Chronic Wasting Disease Financial Assistance Act of 2003. It addresses

many of the concerns we have regarding adequate funding for the National CWD

Plan, and is consistent with our general recommendations regarding how Congress

can help state and tribal wildlife management agencies deal with CWD. Specifically

we:

• Are pleased that S. 1366 recognizes that ‘‘The States retain undisputed primacy

and policymaking authority with regard to wildlife management . . .’’ (section

2(b)(1)).

• Support ‘‘grants to assist States in developing and implementing long term

management strategies to address chronic wasting disease in wild cervids’’ (section

3(a)), and ‘‘in responding to chronic wasting disease outbreaks in wild cervids’’ (section 4(a)).

• Support ‘‘grants to tribal wildlife management agencies to assist Indian tribes

in developing and implementing long term management strategies to address chronic wasting disease in wild cervids’’ (section 5(a)).

• Believe the $20.5M of grants to states and tribes authorized by S. 1366 is urgently needed by the states, and is necessary to adequately implement the National

CWD Plan.

• Request that any CWD funding that is administered through the Federal Assistance Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (section 6) not be

a redirection of existing Pitman-Robertson Federal Aid funds to CWD, but newly appropriated money.
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In conclusion, America’s wild deer and elk populations are priceless treasures.

They are a source of beauty, inspiration and recreation for millions of Americans,

and they infuse billions of dollars annually into our national economy. Their health

and vitality must be protected!

Once again, thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns and recommendations on this very important wildlife disease issue.

APPENDIX A.—ASSISTANCE TO STATES, FEDERAL AGENCIES, AND TRIBES IN MANAGING CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN WILD AND CAPTIVE CERVIDS (RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES

(MARCH 3, 2004))

States, Federal agencies, and Tribes are addressing chronic wasting disease

(CWD) according to the 2002 Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies and Tribes

in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Wild and Captive Cervids (National CWD

Plan) and the Implementation Document for the National CWD Plan. Considerable

progress has been made, especially in terms of surveillance and management of

CWD in free-ranging cervids, research, dissemination of information, and publication by APHIS of the proposed rules on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Herd Certification Program and Interstate Movement of Captive Deer and Elk. To date, there

has been no consistent or unified Federal funding for full implementation of the National Plan. However, USDA/APHIS/Veterinary Services has provided funding toward control of CWD in the farmed cervid industry and to the 50 state wildlife management agencies for public education, as well as surveillance and management of

CWD in wild deer and elk. USDI agencies have redirected limited resources toward

their own CWD research and monitoring programs, and USGS has provided a small

amount of funds to several States for CWD monitoring. Because of inadequate funding to all State and Federal agencies, important CWD-related activities are being

implemented incrementally and with limited coordination. State wildlife management agencies are on the front line of CWD management, surveillance, and research

and are the agencies in greatest need of financial support for CWD activities. To

date, APHIS grants for CWD work have been the most significant and helpful

sources of Federal assistance to State Wildlife Management Agencies.

Disease Management.—Goals are prevention, elimination, maintenance or reduction of established prevalence, and/or containment of CWD, depending onsite-specific CWD status. Needs are $9M (through USDA-APHIS) for States, $2M for

USDA, and $3.5M for USDI, including enhanced funding through USGS-BRD for

the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS).

Surveillance.—Goals are development of sampling plans, early detection, determination of distribution and prevalence of CWD in free-ranging cervids and epidemiologic investigations in the case of CWD in farmed cervids. Funding needs are

$7M (through USDA-APHIS) for States, $1M for USDA, and $2.25M for USDI, including enhanced funding through USGS-BRD for SCWDS.

Research.—Goals are rapid diagnostic tests, better understanding of epidemiology

and pathogenesis of CWD, management tools, and understanding human dimensions related to CWD. Needs are $3.2M (through USDA) for States, $1.5M for

USDA, and $3.5M for USDI.

Diagnostics.—Objectives are to establish sufficient laboratory capacity for testing,

continue use of the immunohistochemistry technique as the gold standard, assure

diagnostic sample quality, and assist with validation and application of high

throughput screening tests. Funding needs are $625K for USDA to assist State laboratories and validate new tests and $50K to USDI for training assistance.

Communications.—Objectives are to increase awareness and educate target audiences, provide timely scientific information on current knowledge and advances in

CWD management, and provide scientific and technical training to agency personnel

regarding CWD. State and Federal (USDI) needs are approximately $105K and

$400K, respectively.

FISCAL YEAR 2005 NEEDS TOTALS

States (through appropriations to USDA) for free ranging cervids: $19.2M, USDA:

$5.1M, USDI: $9.85M
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STATEMENT OF P. SCOTT HASSETT, SECRETARY, WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ROD NILSESTUEN, SECRETARY, WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE, TRADE, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

Thank you for the opportunity to present the following comments on Wisconsin’s

experience with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). We wish to express our appreciation for the $18.6 million Congress allocated in fiscal year 2004 funding to control

CWD nationwide, especially the $1.75 dedicated to CWD control work in Wisconsin.

We value our Federal partnership, and especially the vigilance of our Wisconsin congressional delegation in getting the Federal Government to help Wisconsin in our

CWD management efforts.

Since the discovery of CWD in Wisconsin in February 2002, state government has

done everything in its power to find out where this disease is located within our

state and take actions to minimize the long term damage it might cause. Wisconsin

has formed an Interagency CWD Response Team, consisting of representatives from

the Wisconsin Departments of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

(DATCP), Natural Resources (DNR) and Health and Family Services (DHFS). All

three agencies have already directed substantial resources to identify the scope and

magnitude of the problem and begin treatment—over $1 million for DATCP and

over $16 million for DNR through December 31, 2003.

FARMED DEER AND ELK

In Wisconsin, DATCP manages CWD control efforts for Wisconsin’s farm-raised

deer population. As of October 20, 2003, DATCP has 827 registered cervid farms

containing about 35,000 cervids.

DATCP’s CWD monitoring program requires individual animal identification, detailed recordkeeping for all animals that join or leave the herd, testing, and reporting escapes. Herds must be enrolled if live animals move off the farm for any purpose other than slaughter. There are 550 herds enrolled in the monitoring program,

amounting to 67 percent of registered farms. Many of the remaining farms are hunting preserves, which cannot enroll because of difficulties in keeping animal censuses, or hobby farms that do not move live animals. Wisconsin’s farm-raised deer

program also includes:

Animal Movement/Import: Deer and elk moving within Wisconsin must be enrolled in the monitoring program and meet tuberculosis testing requirements. Deer

and elk entering Wisconsin must come from herds under CWD surveillance/monitoring for 5 years, and must meet brucellosis and tuberculosis testing requirements.

Testing: All deer and elk 16 months or older that die, go to slaughter, or are killed

must be tested for CWD, regardless of whether they are in monitored herds. Since

1999 6,736 farm raised cervids have been tested. The vast majority of those have

been since February 2002.

CWD Positive Animals: To date, DATCP has found 15 CWD-positive whitetails on

farms and one CWD-positive elk. These have been in four herds:

• Buckhorn Flats, a Portage County hunting preserve, has had seven positive

whitetails. DATCP has ordered the herd killed for testing, pending a decision by an

administrative law judge.

• A Walworth County breeding herd received whitetails from one of the same

sources as Buckhorn Flats. Early testing showed two positives; when DATCP killed

the herd, they found four more.

• A Manitowoc County farm received elk from a Minnesota farm later found to

be infected. A routine test turned up one positive. DATCP killed the herd for testing

and found no more.

• A Sauk County hobby farm had only four whitetails, one of which tested positive in a routine test.

Quarantines: DATCP has 16 quarantines in place: seven related to the Portage

County positives; two where herds received elk from infected Minnesota herds; one

related to the Sauk County farm; and six because they are within the DNR’s disease

eradication zone.

We support USDA’s effort to establish a nation-wide CWD herd certification program. The plan has set a goal of eradicating CWD within the farmed cervid herds

in the U.S. This is an important goal and will put Wisconsin producers on equal

footing with other producers around the country and keep our U.S. producers competitive internationally. We hope the committee will do what it can to assist this

important effort.
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WILD DEER AND ELK

Wisconsin wildlife biologists began testing wild deer for CWD in 1999 and news

of CWD in western wild and farmed deer and elk herds became more common. In

February 2002 Wisconsin discovered its first confirmed cases on CWD when three

deer harvested in southern Wisconsin tested positive for CWD.

To date, 317 CWD positive wild white-tailed deer have been found in Wisconsin,

including 109 positives from the 2003–2004 hunting/sampling seasons. Two apparently separate foci of CWD have been identified—the approximately 800-sq. mile affected area in southwestern Wisconsin and an area spanning 3 counties in the

southeastern Wisconsin that border the Illinois’ CWD affected counties.

Over the past 2 years, our objectives have included:

• doing a comprehensive surveillance effort to determine where CWD was found

in our wild herds;

• undertaking and assisting research to better understand the ecology of this disease;

• find better diagnostics;

• educate Wisconsin citizens about CWD; and

• prevent the spread of the disease from infected areas by reducing the size of

the infected deer herds.

Surveillance

Over the past 2 years, we have tested over 56,000 wild deer in Wisconsin. In our

statewide surveillance efforts we sampled with sufficient intensity in most of our

counties to give us a 90 percent probability of detecting CWD if the disease was

present at 1 percent level of prevalence. We have sampled more intensively in and

near our known infection areas to give us information on whether prevalence is

changing and better define the geographic boundaries of the infection.

As part of our surveillance efforts, we worked very hard to develop informational

support systems that provides hunters with specific information on the testing results for the deer they bring in. A tracking program was developed that identifies

each deer and the sample from that deer with a unique bar coded number. The testing results are then shared with the hunter, as soon as those results are available

from the laboratory. Both the surveillance program and the system to track results

from individual deer have been extremely valuable in determining where CWD is

located in the wild herd, and in providing information many Wisconsin’s deer hunters want. This information has been critical in the development of a plan for addressing CWD in Wisconsin, and in helping to assure the continuation of deer hunting as an important tradition and wildlife management tool.

Research

Wisconsin continues to invest into CWD research programs, focused on studies

that will aid in management of CWD. Partnerships have been established with University of Wisconsin, the USGS-National Wildlife Health Center, USDA-ARS, and

others, with a strong emphasis on sharing Wisconsin CWD data and archived deer

tissues. Recent findings of significance to our management program include (1) evidence that prevalence of CWD is significantly related to density of deer, and (2) that

there is significant spatial variation in deer harvest rates in the Disease Eradication

Zone. We will be undertaking Human Dimension research this summer to better understand landowner attitudes regarding CWD in the infected areas. Wisconsin research played a key role in the USDA approval of an additional CWD diagnostic

test in 2003.

Disease management

The best available research suggests that without management CWD will spread

steadily outward from infected areas and eventually impact most of Wisconsin. In

infected deer populations, the disease is projected to significantly reduce the deer

population as the prevalence of the disease steadily increases. White-tailed deer are

highly regarded in Wisconsin and deeply ingrained in our way of life. An estimated

$1 billion dollars of economic activity is generated from deer associated recreation.

CWD represents a long-term threat to deer-related activities.

In addition to CWD impacts on the abundance and health of wild deer and elk

herds, there are serious human health considerations to be considered. We are

grateful that no direct human health problems have yet been attributed to CWD.

We no links are ever found. However, we are confronted with the reality that World

Health Organization and Center for Disease Control recommend that CWD-positive

deer not be consumed. As CWD prevalence increases and the size of the infected

areas grow, an increasing number of deer taken by hunters will be unsuitable for
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consumption. There are very serious implications for wild herd population control,

as well as testing services.

CWD is a difficult disease to control. It is especially challenging when it is found

in wild herds. Our effort has required a tremendous commitment of staff resources,

expertise and funding. We’ve reallocated significant resources from other wildlife

management activities and projects in Wisconsin over the past couple years. These

reallocated resources have been combined with funding received through the state

budget process, and the additional funding that has been made available in the Federal budget to offset some of the costs associated with this intensive effort to manage CWD.

WISCONSIN NEEDS

The work we do in Wisconsin is part of a national effort to control this disease.

As you can see, we have been busy in Wisconsin and still have much to do. In spite

of no official recognition of the National CWD plan, much has been accomplished.

We request your help in moving the Federal Government to fully embrace the National CWD Plan and more importantly provide the appropriations needed to implement the plan and effectively manage the disease.

It is crucial for the Federal Government to provide coordination and assistance

on a national level with research, surveillance, disease management, diagnostic testing, technology, communications, education, and funding for state CWD programs.

Federal agencies should provide tools and financial assistance to states and help develop consistent, unified approaches to CWD management.

Since May 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of

Interior (DOI), along with state and tribal wildlife management and agriculture

agencies, have been working together on a National CWD Plan. A CWD Task Force

was formed to ensure that Federal and state agencies cooperate in the development

and implementation of an effective national CWD program.

Today—nearly 2 years later—we are still waiting for the release of the proposal.

We seek your assistance in encouraging the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) to release the National CWD Plan. A comprehensive, multi-agency, long-term

plan to fight CWD is needed with support from the highest levels of the Federal

Government. Issues needing our collective attention include:

• development of a national data base to track and store information about CWD;

• expansion of Federal ability to test for CWD;

• distribution of Federal dollars to help states data entry, testing and control actions; and

• acceleration of state and other grants for the study of the disease

• incentives for private landowners to control the disease in wild herds using

their land

Over the next few years, we estimate that it will cost about $7 million annually

on an on-going basis in order for the DNR to carry out the wild herd work needed

to meet the goals of the CWD management plan. These costs include staff resources

that are being reallocated from other areas, and there are some additional state and

Federal funds that have been made available. However, there are significant gaps

in the level of resources available for specific work in comparison to what is needed

on an on-going basis. This includes, for example, funding to carry out the surveillance work, costs associated with herd reduction efforts in those areas where CWD

has been detected, and other costs associated with disposal of unwanted carcasses

and various research efforts.

Both nationally and in Wisconsin, much still needs to be done. We support S. 1036

because it provides a comprehensive blueprint to address many of these issues, as

it authorizes funds for CWD management in both wild and farm-raised deer. In addition, we support the following:

• Add that private labs must report to state any positives.

• Sec. 202 should read ‘‘farm-raised’’ deer and elk

• Narrow the ‘‘captive wildlife’’ reference to ‘‘captive cervid’’ under Title II. Sec.

202 (2). All references to captive should probably read ‘‘farm-raised’’—or perhaps

‘‘farmed and captive’’ to cover farms, zoos, roadside exhibitors, cervids captured for

research or translocation, etc.

• For farm raised herd management, Wisconsin has sought funds to make exposed—not just infected—captive deer herds eligible for indemnity; subsidize sampling costs for CWD tests; and for a one-time buyout for herds in eradication zones.

With the discovery of CWD in the wild and captive herds of Wisconsin and other

states, the farm raised cervid industry has lost substantial value. In addition, new

regulatory programs are proving to costly to many herd owners. Unfortunately, the

nature of the programs and the disease make it very difficult and costly to go out-
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of-business and there is little incentive to do it legally. In order to prevent deer,

with unknown health status, from being released into the wild or moved without

record in commerce, the Federal Government should provide money for herd destruction and disposal costs to herd owners wanting to cease operating.

Additional Federal funds could also be used to help cervid farmers like Wes

Ramage of Oakfield, Wisconsin. Officials in Pennsylvania and Colorado denied Mr.

Wes Ramage’s request to ship elk to those states—despite certification from Wisconsin officials that he had complied with Wisconsin’s CWD program for farm-raised

cervidae—because those states have stricter fencing requirements. Additional funds

would help Mr. Ramage pay for extra fencing on his property so that other states

would accept his elk.

Thank you again for your time and efforts on behalf of Wisconsin. We appreciate

your consideration of this request to join with us as partners to ensure the health

of our deer herd and the Wisconsin family hunting tradition that depends on it. We

look forward to continuing this partnership as we work together to develop the

strongest possible Federal CWD program for Wisconsin and the Nation.

STATEMENT OF RICHARD F. BECHTEL, SENIOR LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE FOR

WILDLIFE POLICY, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION

Thank you for the opportunity for the National Wildlife Federation, the Nation’s

largest conservation advocacy and education organization, to submit testimony in

support of S. 1366, the Chronic Wasting Disease Financial Assistance Act of 2003.

NWF can not emphasize enough the bill’s central purpose of providing increased

funding for State fish and wildlife agencies to manage and coontrol the disease.

Chronic Wasting Disease is a significant threat to our free-ranging deer and elk

populations, it heaps expenses upon affected State fish and wildlife departments

and is forcing the departments to divert funding from important programs to surveillance, management, and research of the disease. Where Chronic Wasting Disease occurs, it can lower numbers of hunters, depress critical license revenues, and

reduce the economic activity so vital to rural communities that rely upon economic

contributions of hunters. Control and eradication of the disease is extremely important as over 13 million people hunt each year and spend over $20 billion dollars

pursuing the activity.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been a priority for NWF since the early

1990s and became a major priority when the disease moved across the Mississippi

River into the wild and captive herds of Wisconsin. Although the exact means of

transmission is still unknown, evidence indicates a major route of transmission is

from captive to wild herds. The recent spread of the disease to South Korea clearly

illustrates the danger posed by moving captive cervids within the country and overseas. While control of captive herds may be difficult, management of the disease is

even more difficult and expensive when it moves to wild herds.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION POLICY ON CWD

The National Wildlife Federation advocates disease management of free-ranging

wildlife populations by wildlife professionals working under the authorities of State

and Federal wildlife agencies. NWF appreciates S. 1366’s strong recognition of the

primary authority of States and tribes in management of fish and wildlife resources.

NWF supports Federal funding for research and management of wildlife through the

Department of the Interior and for research and management of domestic livestock

through the Department of Agriculture. However, NWF is especially heartened by

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s realization that CWD must be addressed in both captive and wild populations of cervids and its decision to pass

through funding for management and surveillance of CWD in wildlife to State fish

and wildlife agencies. Of all Federal CWD funding, this pass through has been of

the most help to States in their struggle to manage and eradicate the disease. While

Federal and State agencies believ they do not need additional authority to address

Chronic Wasting Disease, S. 1366 might be amended to codify the memoranda of

agreement process that APHIS has implemented to pass these funds through to

State fish and wildlife agencies. However, the funding pass thorough mechanism

proposed by APHIS cannot be used to leverage or dictate management to State or

Federal wildlife agencies. It must be provided to the appropriate agencies with no

management strings atached that would lead to livestock style test and slaughter

management of our Nation’s incredible wildlife resource.

NWF opposes cervid and big game ranches because of the increased risk of disease transmission. NWF advocates physical barriers such as double-fencing be erected and be maintained at trophy big game ranches to absolutely preclude physical
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contact between wild and contained animals as one mode of transmission is lateral

from animal to animal. Mechanisms to clearly identify and track captive deer and

elk, such as high visibility ear tags with registered numbers, are also necessary.

NWF also advocates strict limits on interstate transport of cervids and other big

game ranched animals until effective tests are developed to certify the health of

transported animals and mandatory testing of those animals prior to transportation.

Preventing the spread on CWD is a small political and financial investment in our

Nation’s wildlife. There is no known treatment or vaccine against CWD and this

issue is a classic case of ‘‘an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of

cure.’’ Curing or eradicating CWD is impossible; preventing its spread is a much

more achievable goal.

The proposed rule, ‘‘Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program and

Interstate Movement of Captive Deer and Elk,’’ which APHIS recently circulated for

comment is a good first step in preventing CWD in captive herds and poreventing

transmission of the disease from captive to wild herds. However, the proposed rule

contains several provisions, which breach the protection the regulation is designed

to provide, especially its voluntary nature, its grandfather provisions, and its allowance of interstate transport of captive cervids before herds achieve 5-year certification.

In conclusion, the National Wildlife Federation supports the increased funding

that enactment of S. 1366 would authorize for State fish and wildlife agencies. NWF

also endorses CWD appropriations at the levels recommended by the International

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to implement the National Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in

Wildlife and Captive Cervids. NWF especially wants to thank the sponsors of

S. 1366 and the members of the subcommitttee for providing critically needed oversight of the coordination and funding needs of Federal Chronic Wasting Disease programs. NWF also promises to work with the sponsors and members of the subcommittee to seek appropriation at these levels for State and tribal fish and wildlife

agencies.
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