Crow Wing County officials said that they will, for the second straight year, accept deer carcasses free of charge at the County Landfill on Highway 210 east of Brainerd in order to provide a containment option to minimize the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on the rest of the landscape.

CWD is a neurological disease affecting the cervid family – deer, elk, moose, reindeer, and caribou. It causes characteristic spongy degeneration in the brain of an infected animal, which results in their death. It is spread when a cervid comes into contact with prions (defective proteins) from an infected animal. Prions from an infected animal are spread on the landscape through deposits of saliva or other bodily fluids; and, they are known to survive in the soils for multiple years waiting to infect another cervid.

“I am very proud of the decisions Crow Wing County made to lead these efforts. Instead of passing the buck to somebody else the county initiated a process to burn all deer carcasses in our area. What we do with deer carcasses that may be infected is an important first step in containing the spread. If we just toss those carcasses onto the landscape, those prions will lay in wait. We would rather you bring all of your deer carcasses to the landfill so that if there are any prions present, we can properly contain and/or treat them. Deer hunting is very important to people here in Crow Wing County. Not only are people putting food on the table for their families, hunters really help our local businesses,” stated Doug Houge, Crow Wing County Commissioner.

Crow Wing County has participated in numerous meetings with the MN Department of Natural Resources, the MN Pollution Control Agency, the MN Board of Animal Health, Conservation Officers, and several local businesses in an effort to better understand the disease and be more proactive to contain the spread.

By — Brad Hamilton