The Wisconsin Deer Hunters Association (WDHA) is extremely disappointed by the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) illegal ruling at the March 27, 2003 hearing. We believe JCRAR went beyond its legal authority by ordering the DNR to make changes to the proposed permanent rule to allow deer baiting north of highway 10 and feeding outside the CWD eradication area. This is well beyond the committee's jurisdiction, as legally they can only act on existing rules. All this was believed to be orchestrated by Rep. Scott Gunderson, who also publicly blackmailed the DNR by saying if they failed to comply, they would strike down all the CWD rules. "Gunderson and the committee made it perfectly clear that they are willing to risk our entire deer herd over a stupid pile of corn," says WDHA president Mark Toso.

By the vote, Gunderson and the committee completely ignored the science behind the rules and chose to sell out our deer herd to financial interests. "This is the same back door politics that resulted in bringing CWD to our state. I can't believe that they think CWD will be confined to the Mt. Horeb area when we just found CWD on yet another game farm in Manitowoc county," says Toso. "Rep. Gunderson used to be on the side of deer hunters. I can't figure out why he sold us out, maybe the special interest money finally got to him."

The WDHA believes this is another example of political meddling with the DNR, which our group is so adamantly against. "This ruling is typical Madison politics. Gunderson and JCRAR would rather it look like the DNR compromised than to actually make the changes themselves. This is a major reason why the DNR often gets blamed for controversial rules. It's a perfect system for the legislature. They get what they want and the DNR takes all the heat for rules which they have no control over" says Toso.

"Let the rule package go through the normal public review and comment process as designed, and quit the dirty politics," continues Toso. "We do not view this as a compromise. It does absolutely nothing to address the disease, productivity and privatization issues. The idea of limiting the quantity and number of sites per area is unenforceable and they know that. If this passes, it will be back to the status quo of 2 years ago."

The WDHA is a group of conservation minded deer enthusiasts whose mission is to promote scientific and ecological based deer management in Wisconsin. Our philosophy is do what's best for the resource, as we believe that is ultimately what's best for the deer hunter.

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