West Virginia DNR has come to a compromise

BECKLEY -- The Division of Natural Resources has reached a compromise with deer farmers in a dispute over an emergency rule aimed at preventing the spread of chronic wasting disease.

The DNR agreed to amend the rule to rescind a double-fencing requirement and to lift a ban on the transport of farm-raised deer and elk within the state.

The agency also agreed to a monitoring program that would be administered by state agriculture officials.

"We've worked out some agreement with the DNR and the Agriculture Department we can live by," Jim Eckenrode, president of the West Virginia Deer Farmers Association, said Monday.

Sen. Karen Facemyer, who helped to broker the deal, said the DNR made "some great concessions."

"It definitely will allow them to survive," said Facemyer, R-Jackson. "There are still some points we need to look at, and information and testing that are being done that deer farmers are not real crazy about."

Chronic wasting disease, first recognized in 1967 in Colorado, was found in West Virginia in 2005 in Hampshire County. The disease attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, and is in the same family as mad cow disease. Its spread has been linked to captive animals in many areas.

A ban on importing out-of-state deer and exporting deer to other states remains in effect.

"Is the issue totally over?" Facemyer said. "No, but we've got to build on that. I think it's a good starting point. Everybody was wanting the same thing. Everybody wants good healthy herds in the wild, and they were wanting good healthy herds to grow for whatever reasons behind the pens. That's been the key."