SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL – International Falls), Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul), House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL – Golden Valley), Rep. Sydney Jordan (DFL – Minneapolis), Rep. Patty Acomb (DFL – Minnetonka), Rep. Ami Wazlawik (DFL – White Bear Township), Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL – Deephaven), Rep. Todd Lippert (DFL – Northfield), Rep. Ginny Klevorn (DFL – Plymouth), Rep. Jay Xiong (DFL – Saint Paul), Rep. Heather Keeler (DFL – Moorhead), Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL – Roseville), Rep. Samantha Vang (DFL – Brooklyn Center), Rep. Fue Lee (DFL – Minneapolis), Rep. Peter Fischer (DFL – Maplewood), Rep. Steve Sandell (DFL – Woodbury), Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL – Coon Rapids), Rep. Liz Reyer (DFL – Eagan), Rep. Erin Koegel (DFL – Spring Lake Park), Rep. Jamie Long (DFL – Minneapolis), Rep. Michael Howard (DFL – Richfield), and Rep. Emma Greenman (DFL – Minneapolis) issued the following statement calling for the resignation of Minnesota Board of Animal Health (BAH) President Dean Compart:
“Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) poses a critical threat to Minnesota’s wild white-tail deer population, and the Board of Animal Health has the responsibility to hold cervid farms in our state accountable for their role in its spread. Unfortunately, by failing to act, the BAH and its leadership have continued to let down those who enjoy deer hunting. Worse, future generations potentially won’t be able to enjoy these cherished traditions if CWD is allowed to spread, and based on the frequency at which the disease is identified in new areas of the state, unless urgent action is taken, it almost certainly will.
“All Minnesotans deserve a healthy deer herd and comprehensive solutions to protect it. If the deer farms won’t be accountable to the BAH, and the BAH won’t be accountable to Minnesotans, it’s time for BAH President Dean Compart to do the honorable thing and resign.”
In April, House DFLers included a comprehensive CWD prevention plan, authored by Rep. Ecklund, as part of the original House Environment and Natural Resources budget bill. The legislation included a measure to transfer oversight of deer farms to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from the BAH. However, in negotiations over a final Environment budget package, Senate Republicans refused to accept the CWD prevention plan.
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects cervids, including white-tailed deer. In May, the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach (MNPRO) announced a survey of a dumping site in Beltrami County – used by a nearby former deer farm to discard white-tailed deer carcasses – resulted in a positive test of CWD in at least one carcass. In recent years, other CWD cases connected to deer farms have been located in Pine, Douglas, Winona, Houston, Crow Wing, and Meeker counties.