Chronic Wasting DMA expanding in Central Pa. Here’s why

PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced that they have made changes to several Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Management Areas (DMAs) in the state.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose, according to the United State Geological Survey. No treatments or vaccines are currently available.

Here are the areas that will be experiencing change:

DMA 8

They’ve created a new DMA after CWD was detected in two road-killed deer in Dauphin County. The newly established DMA includes portions of Dauphin, Lebanon, Northumberland, and Schuylkill counties, and is about 660 square miles in size. This was the first time CWD was detected in free-ranging deer on the east side of the Susquehanna River

Because DMA 8 is new, those who live and hunt in the area will need to become familiar with the regulations now in place there to help limit the human-assisted spread of CWD.

For hunters, there also will be additional opportunities to harvest antlerless deer in DMA 8. You can find more information about that here.

DMA 3

DMA 3 will expand following the detection of CWD in a road-killed adult female deer in Indiana County. The boundary will generally expand south to Route 259 near Brush Valley, south along Route 119 to Black Lick, west to Clarksburg and Shady Plain, and follow Route 210 north to meet the current boundary.

DMA 3 is located in western Pennsylvania and includes portions of Armstrong, Cambria, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Indiana and Jefferson counties.

DMA 4

The size of DMA 4 in Lancaster County will be reduced this year after the area around the original CWD-positive captive facility went five consecutive years without any additional CWD detections. The northern boundary will be retracted to Interstate 76 while the remainder of the DMA stays the same. CWD has not been detected among free-ranging deer in DMA 4.

A map of the DMAs can be found in the “CWD Interactive Map” tab on the Game Commission’s CWD webpage.

CWD regulations and testing

With CWD detections on the rise, antlerless deer license allocations for the upcoming hunting season were increased in Wildlife Management Units affected by CWD. The harvest numbers will then be monitored to determine if the increase in allocation was sufficient to meet management goals.

Within all DMAs and the CWD Established Area (EA), it is unlawful to:

• Remove or export any deer or elk high-risk parts (e.g., head, spinal column, and spleen) from a DMA or EA, unless going to a Game Commission-approved cooperating processor
• Deposit high-risk parts on the landscape away from the harvest location
• Use or possess deer or elk urine-based attractants
• Directly or indirectly feed wild, free-ranging deer. It is already illegal to feed elk regardless of DMA location
• Rehabilitate wild, free-ranging deer or elk