Weather Postpones CWD Sampling; WFF Adds Incentive

By DAVID RAINER, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

The next mandatory chronic wasting disease (CWD) sampling weekend for all of Lauderdale, Colbert and Franklin counties has been postponed due to inclement weather and has been rescheduled for next weekend, January 18-19, 2025. Also, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division has added an incentive to encourage hunters in the CWD Management Zone (CMZ) to submit samples.

Hunters who harvest a deer from within the CMZ and submit their harvest for CWD testing on scheduled mandatory sampling dates will receive a CWD Sampling Permit from ADCNR to harvest one additional antlered deer from within the CMZ for each CWD sample submitted. The additional sampling permits, which are not transferable, will be limited to two per hunter above the season bag limit and are valid on privately owned or leased land only. CWD Sampling Permits are only available on scheduled mandatory CWD sampling dates at Wildlife Management Area (WMA) check stations and ADCNR mobile sampling locations. In addition, WFF also changed the daily bag from buck only to either sex beginning December 23, 2024, and increased the bag limit for unantlered deer to two per day on privately owned or leased lands within the CMZ during the remainder of deer gun season. Dates of scheduled mandatory CWD sampling events can be found on the ADCNR website at www.outdooralabama.com/cwd-info.

"In line with our CWD response plan, hunters are our number one management tool, so we want folks to get out there and hunt," said WFF Director Chuck Sykes. "The reason for the additional permit is to help incentivize hunters to submit harvested deer for CWD sampling. In general, on mandatory weekends, we received an average of around 250 samples, which is typically less than 50% of the total number of deer reported on Game Check in the CMZ on those weekends. Since CWD was detected in Alabama, continued sampling is our means of monitoring the rate of spread and distribution of the disease in our state."

Hunters and interested parties who want the latest updates on CWD are invited to attend a public information meeting Thursday, January 16, at 6 p.m. at the Northwest Shoals Community College, Phil Campbell Campus, Lou B. Bevill Fine Arts Center, 2080 College Rd., Phil Campbell, Alabama, 35581.

The CMZ was expanded to include all of Franklin County after a deer harvested in Colbert County was confirmed positive for CWD on December 23, 2024. The deer was a 2½-year-old buck submitted for sampling at a voluntary check station in Colbert County, which was the first CWD positive detection outside of Lauderdale County. A provision in the ADCNR's Alabama CWD Strategic Surveillance and Response Plan (SSRP) (www.outdooralabama.com/cwd/cwd-alabama) expanded the High Risk Zone (HRZ) to include all of Colbert and portions of Franklin County. The remainder of Franklin County south of State Highway 24 and east of U.S. Highway 43 was added to the CMZ Buffer Zone (BZ).

"According to our response plan, we would go approximately 25 miles out from a new index case, which put us into Franklin County," Sykes said. "As outlined in the CWD SSRP, we delineate CMZ boundaries using county lines, roads or other geographic features where possible, which allows for distinct boundaries.

"Our meeting at Phil Campbell will be a discussion on the updated CWD regulations and modifications to current CMZ season bag limits."