HB 536: Locking in elk quarantine rules — 2024

Rep. Jerald Raymond (R-Menan) introduced HB 536 to lock in and weaken rules relating to quarantines for animals that may have been exposed to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

CWD is a sickness that attacks the brains of elk, deer, and moose. Similar to Mad Cow Disease, this devastating disorder is always fatal, there is no cure, and animals can only be tested once they have died or been killed.

Experts warn that game farms can be breeding grounds for this disease. Unfortunately in 2023 that’s exactly what happened, when two elk farms in Eastern Idaho imported 153 elk that had been in close contact with infected animals at their source facilities in Alberta. 92 were imported to the Broadmouth Canyon Ranch (near Firth) and 61 were imported to the Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch (near Rexburg).

The ISDA already has rules on the books to quarantine facilities where exposed elk must be contained and tested. Locking these rules into statute prevents ISDA from strengthening them in the future through negotiated rulemaking. Instead, it will take legislation to amend the rules, hampering efforts to protect wildlife in the future. This is the first time that potentially exposed-elk have been imported to Idaho, and ISDA should have the flexibility to update their rules as they learn more.

CWD has already been found in wild elk and deer near Riggins in 2021, and again near New Meadows in 2023. While consuming infected meat from CWD-positive animals has never resulted in a human infection, research is ongoing and many fear that it’s only a matter of time.

[NOTE: HB 536 was replaced by HB 591, a similar bill which removes the requirement for double fencing around quarantined elk farms and allows transfer of potentially infected animals to other captive elk facilities for harvest.]