HB1151 Senate Hearing:
Hi Folks,
Just wanted to comment about the hearing Thursday (3/16) on HB 1151. The room where the hearing was held was small, so Sen. Patten made the decision to hear separate testimony from those who supported the bill (first) and those in opposition (second.) He allocated 45 minutes for each group's oral & written testimony. Those in opposition waited in the main hallway while those in favor testified. I didn't get a true count, but I estimate about 12-15 people were in the group opposed to the bill. While we were waiting for the first group to finish their testimony I wandered over to the meeting room and took a peek inside. Again, not a true count, but I think the group in support was about the same size as our group in opposition.
When it came time for the group in opposition to testify three individuals, two private citizens and the representative from the Bowhunters Assoc. spoke first. One of the private citizens was former State Rep. Rodney Froelich, who related past incidents he had with deer congregated on his hay bales and how he had lost calves to e coli infections as a result of their consumption of feed contaminated with deer droppings. He went on to praise the NDFGD for their deer fencing program which he has since incorporated into his hay storage system. His point was to emphasize the threat of disease transmission is very real and encouraged the Committee to rely solely on the advice of the NDGFD when it comes to CWD risk management. Those three testimonies were followed by Director Williams & Dr. Bronson. As expected, both did a great job. Their testimony was followed by four more private citizens, including me and one shy, but very brave 10 year old, Rachel's daughter Nora.
The committee didn't direct any questions to the non-agency testimony. Senator Magrum did ask Director Williams and Dr. Bronson a few questions. He asked the difference between deer which congregate naturally in the winter and how that is any worse than deer that congregate at a bait pile or feeder. Dr. Bronson stressed that deer on bait are in much closer contact to each other than deer that are congregated in a field. Director Williams was asked by Senator Magrum if it was true that the federal government was going to get involved with CWD management. The answer was "no." I suspect that seed was planted during the testimony by someone in support of HB 1151.
The hearing concluded with no further action taken by the committee. Rachel, did I miss anything?
ALSO: The question about Federal involvement reminded me of the 2022 passage of the Chronic Wasting Disease Research & Management Act www.congress.gov/117/bills/s4111/BILLS-117s4111is.xml This Act had widespread bitarsian support in both the House & Senate. Rep. Armstong voted in favor of its passage and Sen Houven co-sponsored it in the Senate. Passage of this legislation had the support of a number of entities including AFWA, the Boone & Crockett Club, National Deer Association, the TR Conservation Partnership, National Wildlife Federation, etc. The bill appropriates $70 million to USDA from FY2022 through FY2028, with funding split evenly between CWD management & CWD research. This is strictly pass through funding made available to state & tribal wildlife agencies for CWD management and to universities/research facilities for CWD research. Emphasis on "pass through funding." USDA's sole role is to establish cooperative agreements with those seeking funding, this isn't Federal government overreach.
Since these federal dollars were included in the 2023 omnibus spending bill they may not yet be available for use. Also, I'm not sure if NDGFD will be applying for this available funding. However, I think it is important to include in future testimony in opposition to HB 1151 that CWD management had bipartisan support from Congress and a $70 million commitment shows that CWD is a nationwide issue, not just a localized concern.
Phil Mastrangelo, President-Elect
