• Steve Jones' rebuttal to Ted Nugent's "CWD Is A Scam" article.
  
  
• Battle for control of MDC rages in Jefferson City. A February 2015 Outdoor Guide Magazine article by Steve Jones (sequel to the article below)
  
  
• Hunting and fishing politics - goodbye to the good old days. A December 2014 Outdoor Guide Magazine article by Steve Jones
  
  
• Three Articles on the success at sustaining the Governor's veto of the "confined deer = livestock" bill in Sept. 2014:
  
  
  • Captive deer remain wildlife controlled by MDC by Brandon Butler
  • Ag and Captive Deer Bill Narrowly Fails In Missouri Veto Session from OzarksFirst.com
  • Deer (and hunters) Narrowly dodge bullet by Steve Jones, Oct. 2014 Outdoor Guide Magazine


• Results of 18 month investigation of the fenced deer industry and CWD, by the Indy Star. Some content is Missouri related. Probably the best written and researched public reporting ever published CWD. IF YOU READ ONLY ONE THING ON THIS SITE, MAKE IT THIS!
  
  
•  Bills filed in Missouri Legsilature to reclassify confined deer as livestock.
  
  
•  Public Meetings On CWD In September and October: The MDC has fleshed out its direction on CWD. Link contains dates and Locations for public meetings (Macon, Kirkwood, West Plains, Cape Girardeau, Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Blue Springs, and Springfield). Also a new webpage to capture public opinion on CWD, and a new "Setting the Record Straight" publication with excellent, clear discussion of many difficult aspects of CWD.
  
  
•  QDMA Alert on the urgency that deer hunters attend a pending MDC meeting on CWD.
  
  
•  Editorial on the Missouri House CWD Committee by Tony Kalna, reprinted with permission from Missouri Deer Hunter Magazine.
  
  
•  CWD Meetings a Sham? August 2013 Outdoor Guide Magazine article by Steve Jones
  
  
•   Missouri Net article on the July meeting of the MO House CWD Committee.
  
  
• Transcription of the testimony of Dr. Kroll at the July 15 hearing of the Missouri " House Interim Committee on CWD " contains audio clips and .
  
  
• Testimony of Steve Jones at the July 15, 2013 meeting of the MO House CWD Committee
  
  
• The recently formed Missouri House "Interim Committee on Cause and Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in the Elk and White Tail Deer Population" poorly represents the disease area, and is conducting a traveling series of meetings far away from affected landowners and hunters. Here is a list of Committee Membership, and a map showing meeting locations and dates.
  
  
• Cards distributed by the Conservation Federation of Missouri. Click to enlarge:
  
        
  
  
• Two part detailed report on CSV by KFVS TV in Cape Girareau: Part 1, Part 2, originally broadcast May 9, 2013.
  
  
• There are currently about 40 high-fence hunting preserves and 224 Class1 wildlife breeding facilities permitted in Missouri. Each is legally allowed to buy, sell, ship, receive and confine live cervids such as deer and elk.
  
  
• Click on the maps below to see larger images of the location of these facilities by county in 2011:
  
        
  
  
• The requirement for an MDC wildlife breeding permit does not apply to cervid species other than White-Tailed Deer and Mule Deer. All other cervids (including Elk) may be confined, bred, shipped, recieved, and bought and sold with absolutely no MDC standards. CWD is infectious and contagious among all cervids. There are no minumum fencing stadards for cervid species other than White-Tail and Mule deer.
  
  
• Every Fall over half a million Missouri deer hunters head to the woods, resulting in more than $1 Billion dollars annual impact on overall business activity. Over 11,000 Missouri jobs are supported by deer hunting. As CWD spreads, hunting will eventually decline. Rural acreage is a commodity whose price is propped up by the recreational value of good hunting land. In the diseased areas, losses to land owners and lower property tax income could be devastating to rural communities. Missouri's CWD infection appears destined to cause damage with repurcussions far in excess of those felt by hunters.
  
  
• Photo album of the fence surrounding the north-central Missouri high-fence hunting facility in which several deer have been tested CWD positive.
  
  
• Letters sent by QDMA in April 2013 to MO Legislators regarding bills which attack MDC Authority. Links to the letters: HJR 36, HB 962. Links to the bills: HJR 36, HB 962.
  
  
• 2013 Resolution on CWD by the Conservation Federation of Missouri
  
  
• Excellent article from the Columbia Missourian discussing CWD and the USDA cancelling funding for managing the disease (reprinted with permission).
  
  
• Top 10 questions about CWD by Steve Jones, October 2012 Outdoor Guide Magazine
  
  
• CWD found in free-ranging Missouri Deer by Steve Jones, April 2012 Outdoor Guide Magazine
  
  
• CWD Surveillance and Management Plan approved by the Missouri Conservation Commission Oct 19, 2012.
  
  
• CWD Presentation from MDC. Used in the "CWD Open House" public information meetings.
  
  
• Missouri Departmant of Conservation CWD web page
  
  
• The "Animal Health" division of the Agriculture Department. See the "Cervidae" section of this link for relevant information, and this December 2011 press release.
  
  
• Press Release on CWD from the Missouri Department of Health
  
  
• Raising Whitetail Deer ... behind fences ... (a May 2000 paper by MDC deer biologists)
  
  
•  Map of 2013 CWD testing stations color coded to indicate dates.
  
  

Prion diseases are relatively new to science. Research on CWD and the whole range of TSE's is progressing rapidly. Google will return lots of information, but much of it will be out of date and possibly not accurate. The websites below are comprehensive and relatively current. They should be a useful hub for information gathering.

• CWD‑Info.org. Website of the CWD Alliance - another excellent source of information.
  
  
• National Wildlife Health Center webpage on CWD.
  
  
• USDA/APHIS web page on CWD

•  Results of 18 month investigation of the fenced deer industry and CWD, by the Indy Star. Probably the best written and researched public reporting ever published CWD. If you read one thing on this site, make it this.
  
  
• Map of current distribution of CWD from the National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC)
  
  
  
  
•  CWD Infection rate hits 25% in adult Wisconsin bucks in core CWD area.
  
  
• "CWD In the West", an excellent 15 minute video.
  
  
•  Georgia professor unloads on USDA's new CWD certification program
  
  
•   National Rifle Association and United Sportsmen of Florida support closing Florida borders to deer importation to stop spread of CWD.
  
  
• Wyoming CWD Study - an excellent 16 minute video by Drury Outdoors/Wildlife Obsession showing a research project studying the South Converse County mule deer herd in Wyoming, where from 2001 to 2011 the CWD infection rate increased from 15% to 57%, while the deer population has been cut in half:
  
    
  
  
• High Fence shooting industry exposed: A shocking 12 minute video from the National Wildlife Federation. May be disturbing to some.
  
  
• A Growing Threat : How deer breeding could put public trust wildlife at risk. An article on the dangers posed by the confined deer industry, from the Winter 2012 "The Wildlife Professional".
  
  
• Lions and Prions and Deer Demise. A groundbreaking research paper on CWD in Colorado.
  
  
• CWD and the Science in support of the Ban on Baiting and Feeding Deer from the Wisconsin DNR
  
  
• Anatomy of prions in deer, image showing where CWD prions concentrate.
  
  
• Perspectives on CWD, a white paper by Dave Clausen, DVM, member of the Wisconsin Natural Resources board. Some straight talk about CWD management practices.
  
  
• Might CWD actually lead to the extinction of wild deer? It's possible, according to this 2011 study funded by the U.S. Geological Survey. It's a research paper, but the abstract and the discussion are worth a look even if you don't speak research.
  
  
• Is it safe to eat venison? Introduction and conclusions from an analysis of the risk of CWD transferring to humans, from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control).
  
  
• Can CWD get out of the fence? Summary and conclusions from a study of the public risks associated with the confined deer industry, from the Michigan DNR.
  
  
• Must See! Analysis of fence quality, with photos: Excerpt from the DNR study mentioned above.
  
  
• Maine DFW "...Study scents used in hunting deer and renderings used in deer feed", a 2012 report encouraging research and possible controls on these potential sources of introducing CWD into areas it does not currently exist.
  
  
• An interesting page from StopCWD.org, which includes perspective from the captive cervid industry. Some of the conclusions could be argued over, and some of the information may be dated, but it contains a rare detailed discussion of where and how CWD originated and was originally spread.
  
  
• Quality Deer Management Association Stance on captive deer breeding.
  
  
• A recent National Wildlife Health Center publication: Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in Free‑Ranging Cervids
  
  
• Processing deer in CWD territory advice from the Wisconsin DNR.
  
  
• Fatal Flaws: How a Misfolded Protein Baffled Scientists and Changed the Way We Look at the Brain, by Jay Ingram. Not CWD specific, but this is an excellent book that explains TSE's as well as I've ever read. Some of it is aimed at biologists but most of it will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about TSE's.
  
  
• A look at the efforts of the confined cervid industry. Excerpts: "... wildlife agencies will not be included in this new rule making process." and "Dr. John Clifford, head of USDA/ APHIS, is supportive of the cervid industry and has indicated that he would support this effort to develop our own program".