South Dakota implemented a plan to regain control over the rising cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) within local deer and elk populations in 2021. Now, two years into the South Dakota Chronic Wasting Disease Action Plan, almost nothing has changed.

 The plan was first made public by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks (GFP) with the goal of providing transparency and guidance to locals and visitors regarding the spread and control of CWD. Also included within the GFP’s plan, were the goals to “Determine the presence/absence of CWD” and “Reduce the spread of CWD.”

 The GFP successfully determined the presence of CWD and confirmed that the number of cases is rising. The GFP also recognizes that the reduction of CWD is no simple matter, acknowledging it might be 50 to 100 years before the numbers are significantly reduced. 

The main issue lies in their goal to “have an informed public who understand, support, and participate with CWD management practices.” Outside of the department itself, the general populace of Spearfish, and more specifically Black Hills State University (BHSU), are not as aware of the prion disease as they could be.

“I have definitely witnessed CWD and how it affects populations of the herds,” Robinson said. “I do not worry about [whether the] deer or elk I harvest have CWD because it supposedly does not affect humans.”

 It has not yet been confirmed if CWD can affect humans like other prion diseases can, such as Mad Cow Disease and Rabies. CWD can, however, infect primates closely related to humans through the consumption of infected meat or brain tissue, according to public health officials.

 In the same vein, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly recommends not eating meat from a carcass that has tested positive to CWD. The effects may be deadly and it is still unknown whether or not CWD can infect a human.

South Dakota’s GFP has tried multiple outreach attempts, including advertisements on social media platforms, but still struggles to reach many younger audiences.

“I have never heard of [the plan] to reduce CWD in South Dakota,” Robinson said. “[But] I have heard horror stories about the Game and Fish, but those just may be stories.”

 Robinson, who participates in every season he can, is one of many sportsmen who is aware of CWD and its devastating effects but remains in the dark about what the GFP wants him to do about it.

The GFP’s website includes a page about CWD regulations, but is full of common sense tidbits and nothing about what these rules do for the environment or how they affect local herds.

For example, “Hunters are recommended to leave as much of the unusable carcass as possible at the location of the harvest in a discrete location on both public and private lands. Make arrangements with landowner on property where permission has been granted.”

The page does not include any information on how this could open up opportunities for carnivores to unknowingly become infected themselves, or what other possible consequences could arise from these ambiguous regulations.

With more information, the GFP could solidify their rules and offer clarity to hunters and the general public about the precautions surrounding CWD and what is expected of them by the GFP.