Wild Cervid Chronic Wasting Disease 

Management and Response Activities 

2023 Cooperative Agreements

2023 Spending Plan

August 2023
2023 Spending Plans for the Wild Cervid Chronic Wasting Disease 

Management and Response Activities 2023 Cooperative Agreements 

USDA APHIS WS is awarding $6,012,192 through Cooperative Agreements to eighteen State Departments of 

wildlife (totaling approximately $3,085,808), sixteen universities (totaling approximately $2,900,070) and 

one Tribal government (totaling approximately $26,313). These projects will allow recipients to further 

develop and implement CWD management, response, and research activities in wild cervids, including 

surveillance and testing. Funded projects are listed below.

 Wild Cervid CWD Management Projects

Project Title Entity Funding Amount

Increasing CWD surveillance in Arizona by 

providing resources for direct hunter sample 

submission

Arizona Game and Fish 

Department

$72,747.00

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s 2023-2024 

CWD White-tailed Deer Statewide Surveillance 

and Monitoring

Arkansas Game and Fish 

Commission

$201,100.00

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission CWD 

Testing Awareness and Outreach Promotion 

Arkansas Game and Fish 

Commission

$70,000.00

Applying AFWA Best Management Practices for 

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Surveillance and 

Sample Disposal in Louisiana: A State Recently 

Detecting CWD in Wild Cervids

Louisiana Department of 

Wildlife and Fisheries

$182,479.00

Evidenced-based implementation of Chronic 

Wasting Disease educational programming and 

preventative strategies in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Division of 

Fisheries and Wildlife, 

MassWildlife

$249,839.00

Utilizing Novel Genetic Resources to Evaluate 

Effectiveness of Culling to Manage CWD in 

Endemic Areas

Minnesota Department of 

Natural Resources

$233,827.00

Does it Matter - Building a Web Application for 

Managers to Measure Impacts of CWD Control 

Strategies

Minnesota Department of 

Natural Resources

$113,227.00

Environmental Surveillance for CWD: Improving 

Understanding of Natural Risk and Refining RTQuIC Protocols

Mississippi Department of 

Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks

$207,541.00

Fighting Fatigue: Increasing capacity to meet the 

demands of elevated CWD surveillance in North 

Carolina

North Carolina Wildlife 

Resources Commission

$232,232.00

Oregon Chronic Wasting Disease Prevention, 

Surveillance, and Management Program FY2023

Oregon Department of Fish and 

Wildlife 

$248,730.00

Using Decision Science to Improve CWD 

Surveillance in Florida

The Florida Fish and Wildlife 

Conservation Commission 

(FWC)

$250,000.00
 Wild Cervid CWD Management Projects

Project Title Entity Funding Amount

Increasing chronic wasting disease sample size 

and quality among Utah’s sportsmen and wildlife 

professionals

Utah Division of Wildlife 

Resources

$101,013.00

Optimization of CWD Data Management, 

Surveillance, and Carcass Disposal Strategies in 

Virginia

Virginia Department of Wildlife 

Resources

$221,413.00

Evaluation of CWD outreach and education to 

guide disease management in Washington State

Washington Department of Fish 

and Wildlife

$56,949.48

Comparison of two surveillance techniques for 

the efficient detection of CWD among freeranging cervids in the eastern panhandle of West 

Virginia

West Virginia Division of 

Natural Resources, Wildlife 

Resources Section

$91,019.00

Deepening Partnerships, Expanding Access: 

Reducing CWD Transmission Risks by Supporting 

Proper Carcass Disposal

Wisconsin Department of 

Natural Resources

$200,000.00

Assessing risks associated with CWD-positive deer 

carcasses, scavenging, and carnivore

movement within a CWD endemic area

Wisconsin Department of 

Natural Resources

$213,334.00

Evaluation of composting CWD-positive Rocky 

Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) by 

detection of PrP CWD in composted 

environmental samples using real-time quakinginduced conversion (RT-QulC)

Wyoming Game and Fish 

Department

$140,358.00

State Agency Sub-TOTAL $3,085,808.48

Use of RT-QuIC for antemortem detection of CWD 

in blood and lymphoid tissue collected from freeranging white-tailed deer and elk

Colorado State University $192,139.00

Pairing CWD Outreach to the Context: Social, 

Cultural, and Ecological Variability

Cornell University $160,443.00

Confinement of chronic wasting disease prions 

from infected carcasses after burial

Creighton University $250,000.00

Fecal metagenomic and metabolomic biomarkers 

as tools for Chronic Wasting Disease diagnostics 

and surveillance

Department of Biomedical 

Sciences, School of Veterinary 

Medicine, and Wildlife Futures 

Program, University of 

Pennsylvania

$250,000.00

Growing community-based leadership in CWD 

response and management in Iowa

Iowa State University $150,933.00

Michigan CWD Core Area Outreach & Education Michigan State University 

Extension

$99,712.00
 Wild Cervid CWD Management Projects

Project Title Entity Funding Amount

Building regional capacity for CWD research and 

surveillance in the Southeastern United States

Southeastern Cooperative 

Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS)

$185,373.00

Modeling the effects of wolf predation on risk of 

Chronic Wasting Disease in Deer in Wisconsin

The Board of Regents of the 

University of Wisconsin System 

(UW-Madison)

$86,986.00

Quantification of soil clay components in 

northern Illinois to improve characterization of 

indirect CWD transmission risk and increase the 

efficacy of management efforts

The Board of Trustees of the 

University of Illinois

$208,331.00

Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease with BioSamples and Bio-DetectorsThe Penn Vet Working Dog 

Center

$249,924.00

Feral swine as spreaders of Chronic Wasting 

Disease prions

The University of Texas Health 

Science Center at Houston

$249,799.00

Pathological investigation of white-tailed deer 

(Odocoileus virginianus) in Pennsylvania’s chronic 

wasting disease established area

University of Pennsylvania $92,030.00

Reproduction and Recruitment in a High 

Prevalence CWD Area in West Tennessee

University of Tennessee $249,975.00

Development of a new platform for rapid and 

sensitive detection of chronic wasting disease 

prion in live animal samples

University of Tennessee 

Institute of Agriculture

$169,782.00

Enhancing Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) 

Testing Capacity at the Washington Animal 

Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (WADDL) for CWD 

Surveillance in Washington State

Washington State University $197,864.00

Automated CWD IHC location and staining 

detection: Augmenting CWD surveillance 

capabilities through artificial intelligence-based 

image analysis

Washington State University –

Washington Animal Disease 

Diagnostic Laboratory (WSUWADDL)

$106,779.00

University Sub-TOTAL $2,900,070.00

Spokane Tribe Chronic Wasting Disease Outreach 

and Surveillance Project

Spokane Tribe of Indians -

Wildlife Program

$26,313.64

Tribal Government Sub-TOTAL $26,313.64

TOTAL $6,012,192.12