Wisconsin's CWD response plan

The Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan, approved by the Natural Resources Board, guides the department's approach to addressing CWD in Wisconsin. This plan is to be used from 2010-2025.

Controlling CWD in Wisconsin's free-ranging white-tailed deer will be highly challenging and will require a commitment of human and financial resources over an extended period of time. The department developed the Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan in recognition of its public trust responsibility for managing wildlife and ensuring the health of Wisconsin's wildlife populations. However, waning public support and limited fiscal resources have limited the department's ability to implement the plan entirely.

• Download the entire 15 years CWD Response Plan [PDF]
• Executive Summary [PDF]
• Background [PDF]
• Conclusions after the First Eight Years [PDF]
• 15-Year CWD Management Goal [PDF]
• Objectives, Actions and Anticipated Results [PDF]
• Summary [PDF]

CWD Response Plan Reviews

Every five years, the department reviewed progress toward the goals of the 2010-2025 CWD Response Plan. The first 5-year review of the plan was completed in 2017 by a multi-stakeholder review committee. Recommendations from the committee can be found in the final report [PDF]. As part of the public input process, County Deer Advisory Councils held a round of special meetings to gather public input on the response plan action items.

As a byproduct of this effort, a summary of implementation efforts on action items [PDF] outlines the process with the corresponding implementation steps that are completed or are currently in progress.

A second review began in 2021. A Response Plan Committee was established and comprised a group of stakeholders representing conservation, business and hunting organizations and tribal governments. Through a series of meetings held from October 2022 to February 2023, the committee used a structured decision-making approach and system modeling to evaluate different proposed actions. The CWD Response Plan Review Committee charter contains more information on the scope and goals of this review.

During this second review, the committee recommendations for the plan's goal statement, objectives and actions were provided to the department. The DNR presented the review's findings to the NRB in late spring 2022.

CWD Response Plan Meeting Minutes and Recordings