• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Senate Panel Passes Revised Regulations on Captive Deer, Elk: The Bill Keeps Regulations With The Fish And Wildlife Department.

Posted on: Friday, 3 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Bill Bartleman, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Mar. 3--FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Sen. Joey Pendleton hopes that fish and wildlife officials don't renege on a compromise regarding the regulation of captive deer and elk.

The compromise in Senate Bill 230 was unanimously approved Thursday by the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and now goes to the full Senate, where it will be voted on next week.

"They've agreed to everything in the bill, and wrote most of it," said Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville. "But I don't trust them. We have had agreements before only for them to fall apart. I fear that when this gets down to the House, they'll work against it."

Farmers have begun raising deer and elk in fenced pastures the same as they raise cattle. There is a growing market for deer for its meat and use in hunting preserves, and in elk for meat and velvet in their antlers.

SB 230 is a watered-down version of SB 129, which proposed major changes in the regulation of deer and elk, including transferring most duties from Department of Fish and Wildlife to the Department of Agriculture.

The revised bill keeps the regulations with the fish and wildlife department; allows permits to be transferred and pastures to be enlarged; sets deadlines for issuing permits; and continues an import ban imposed two years ago by Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jon Gassett said he isn't opposed to the bill approved on Thursday, which was drafted after several hours of meetings on Wednesday with deer and elk farmers.

Gassett was warned by Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, to discuss any new concerns with the sponsors of the bill, including Pendleton, and not launch a public campaign against it, as he did last month when SB 129 was introduced.

Gassett claimed that SB 129, which has since been withdrawn, would increase the risk for chronic wasting disease because it lifted the ban on importing deer and elk from other states. Chronic wasting is a neurological disease that is fatal and can spread easily among deer herds.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Paducah Sun

More News in this Category