Chronic wasting disease bill clears committee
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Chronic wasting disease bill clears committee February 27, 2025
Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, testifies on House Bill 700 before the House Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee on Thursday. The bill would place restrictions on the movement of deer and elk, or cervids, in chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance zones. A high-resolution photo can be found here.
FRANKFORT — Chronic wasting disease – or zombie deer disease – poses a threat to Kentucky’s deer and elk population and industry, experts say. Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, wants to prevent that from happening.
Bray is the primary sponsor of House Bill 700, which he presented to the House Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee on Thursday alongside Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Rich Storm.
The legislation would place restrictions on the movement of cervids (deer and elk) in chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance zones.
Storm said chronic wasting disease is a 100% incurable and fatal prion disease. The only way to test an animal for the disease is by testing a lymph node from the base of the deer’s skull. Bray said the disease cannot be transmitted to humans, but other prion diseases, like mad cow disease, are transmissible to humans.
Kentucky has had two isolated cases of chronic wasting disease, Bray said, but other states haven’t been so lucky. In states where the disease has spread, hunting tourism has declined.
“My greatest fear – as I sit here today – if we do nothing, and CWD spreads across this state, once it hits interior Kentucky, we will forever wish we had done something today,” Bray said.
Storm said Kentucky has a conservation and fiduciary responsibility to preserve Kentucky’s cervid population and $2 billion hunting industry. Kentucky also has a thriving deer farming industry.
Under HB 700, it would be unlawful to export any wild cervid outside a CWD surveillance zone. Those zones are defined as a 30-mile radius from a positive CWD detection, according to the legislation.
For captive cervids, the bill would make it unlawful to export a captive cervid outside a 10-mile radius from a CWD positive captive cervid facility. Cervid facilities who install double fencing could be exempt from some of the regulations in HB 700, Bray said.
The bill would allow a CWD surveillance zone designation to expire five years after the zone’s last positive CWD case.
Storm said the legislation would still allow the export of certain cervid products.
“They will be able to continue to sell (boneless) meat, the byproducts, the antlers,” he said.
Several representatives of Kentucky’s deer farming industry testified they’re already taking precautionary measures when it comes to CWD.
Henry Woodard, who serves on the Kentucky Alternative Livestock Association board, said deer farming is already heavily regulated by Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Agriculture and the USDA.
“We take CWD very seriously,” he said. “… We have a CWD response plan already in the state, and it is a response plan by our Department of Ag that we fall under. We test every mortality in our herds for CWD, regardless of proximity to a CWD positive case.”
Woodward said HB 700 could shut down many of Kentucky’s deer farms.
Several lawmakers had questions about CWD, including how to test for it.
Rep. William Lawrence, R-Maysville, asked about the future of a live test for CWD where farmers and Fish and Wildlife would be able to test a live cervid.
Storm said he’s “very confident” there will be a live test in the years to come, but right now there isn’t one that’s approved.
“When the day comes that there’s a live test, we can absolutely come back in and change all of this, because it won’t be as necessary,” Bray said.
Lawrence said he understands the urgency behind HB 700, but he worries how the bill may hurt deer farmers.
“If I was told I couldn’t (operate) for the next five years, it could crush my business,” Lawrence said, adding he hopes the legislature could communicate the sense of urgency for a live test on a federal level.
The House Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee approved HB 700 by a 13-1 vote with three pass votes.
In explaining his “yes” vote, Rep. Adam Moore, D-Lexington, said he’s looking forward to using the “robust” legislative process to make sure HB 700 is as “perfect a bill as is possible.”
Bray said he and Storm have been working with all stakeholders, including the farmers, on the bill and are hoping to find a solution everyone can be content with.
“I love deer. I love deer hunting,” Bray said. “I would never want to do anything to hurt anybody’s business, but there’s far too much to lose if we sit here and do nothing.”
HB 700 now goes before the full House for consideration.
News Releases are provided by the LRC Public Information Office. All photos are attributed to LRC Staff.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/publicservices/pio/release.html#HB700-022725
