Injustice in the Upper Peninsula
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Jeffrey F. Powers D.V.M.
President, Beaver Island Wildlife Club
26259 Main Street
Beaver Island, MI 49782
November 4, 2008
Department of Natural Resources
Natural Resources Commission
P.O. Box 30028
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Dear Commissioners,
Last month I attempted to communicate to you some of the scientific arguments that make it clear that Chronic Wasting Disease has NEVER caused the type of catastrophic losses in deer populations you�re your governmental scientists continue to attempt to convince the citizens of the great state of Michigan, and the extremely minimal impact that feeding and baiting has on disease transmission of this and other significant White-tailed Deer diseases.
I have asked repeatedly for one scientific study that factually shows Chronic Wasting Disease is linked to baiting and feeding of deer and since there is no such study I have received nothing of the kind.
Your scientists continue to spread nonsense at various meetings and legislative hearings such as �Deer will always eat the entire apple when it falls naturally from a tree�, last week Senator James Barcia and I visited several apple trees that were littered with partially eaten apples from Deer. When this scientist was questioned by the senator he admitted that he had never spent any time in a deer blind. Other comments like �CWD infected deer are more likely to get in car accidents�, I guess these scientists haven�t consulted Wisconsin on this matter when after spending $35 million dollars testing over 140,000 deer they have not been able to find this correlation.
At some point it is your responsibility to interject accountability into the management of this matter, and I call on you to conduct an INDEPENDENT investigation of the actions of the Michigan DNR which are attempting to promote a proven false �Russian roulette� policy to satisfy some internal agenda. You could start this investigation by questioning some of the INDEPENDENT members of the Wisconsin CWD Stakeholders committee, who will tell you of the years of wasteful management that occurred in Wisconsin as a result of the same fear mongering that your governmental scientists are using in this case. Wisconsin�s CWD infection rate is less than 3%, and almost all of that is in one area, and in speaking to their head biologist yesterday, very few if any of these animals ever appear clinically ill. He also told me that the disease has likely been there for over 30 years, which if you examine the epidemiological pattern of the disease that is very likely, yet the deer population in Wisconsin is one of the densest in the nation.
You owe it to the citizens of the State of Michigan and you certainly owe it to those that have had their livelihoods severely damaged based on the actions of the Department of Natural Resources to objectively criticize the incorrect management path that will lead to increased deer overpopulation, and diminished hunter participation which will then cause a REAL crisis in the management of the deer herd in the State of Michigan.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey F. Powers D.V.M.
President, Beaver Island Wildlife Club
