The move was made to protect wildlife against the fatal wasting disease

Oregon’s borders are now closed to the importation of domestic deer and elk, as well as all but properly processed meat of hunter-killed deer and elk, as part of emergency measures to protect the state’s wildlife populations from the fatal chronic wasting disease.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, meeting Friday in Corvallis, voted unanimously to enact an immediate six-month moratorium on the importation of all domestic cervids except reindeer. It also began the process to consider making the ban permanent.

The commission ordered an identical ban to Oregonians bringing home deer and elk carcasses killed in other states. However, hunters may bring home cut-and-wrapped meats and other animal parts under certain conditions to fulfill their role in helping to reduce the risk of CWD reaching Oregon.

State wildlife biologists are concerned that CWD, which is a big-game version of Britain’s mad cow disease, could sneak into Oregon and start killing animals like is has in 11 states and Canadian provinces.

"People looking at this disease are realizing they don’t know much and they’re taking action to keep not just the (live) animals, but the meat, from moving across state lines," said Anne Pressentin Young, spokeswoman for the seven-member commission.

CWD, which attacks the brain and leads to massive weight loss and eventual death, has never been detected in Oregon. It has been found in wild deer from western Colorado, Wisconsin, and most recently, southern New Mexico, which indicates the potential exists for the disease to cross major rivers and mountain ranges.

The commission’s positions were buoyed by Dr. Andrew Clark, the state veterinarian, who testified that he favors a two-year ban to give biologists a chance to understand how the disease spreads and what can corral it.

"We think the entire package is great," said Al Elkins, an Oregon Hunters Association lobbyist and part of the MADElk Coalition that supported Friday’s bans.

"The commission’s being extremely serious and very pro-active, and that’s what is best for the state’s wildlife."

The owners of many of Oregon’s 15 licensed commercial elk-ranching operations — including two in Jackson County — have argued that a short-term ban on live elk importation may be prudent while scientists get a better handle on CWD and how it’s transmitted.

Dick Walker, a Central Point elk rancher, said Oregonians appear to be reacting too emotionally to a scientific problem. Walker also said he believes the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which historically has opposed elk ranching expansions, likely will follow the moratorium with a permanent ban.

"I’m also a native Oregonian and elk hunter," said Walker, whose Tolo Road facility harbors 51 elk. "If there is a problem, let’s find out and take care of it.

"But it sounds like they just want to shut us down," he said.

The ODFW is planning a mass collection of hunter-killed deer and elk this fall and winter to test wild animals for the disease, for which there is no reliable test that does not require a dead animal.

CWD is found in free-ranging or captive mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The untreatable disease leads to progressive loss of body condition, behavioral changes, excessive salivation and death.

Infected animals can take up to three years to show symptoms, Pressentin Young said.

In banning importation of hunter-killed deer and elk, the commission did allow for several exceptions for pieces of cervid carcasses deemed the least likely to transmit disease.

Those exceptions include: cut-and-wrapped meat; boned-out meat; quarters or other cuts without the spinal cord or head attached; hides with no head attached; cleaned skull plates with antlers; antlers with no tissue attached; upper canine teeth; and finished taxidermy heads.

Elk ranchers raise and breed captive animals for what they believe will become a vibrant meat industry much like buffalo. The ranchers argue that banning elk importation will limit the genetic diversity needed to grow big, meaty animals for eventual slaughter.

"This is not going to help us, by any means," Walker said.

While the current meat market is light, most farmed elk are more valuable now as breeding stock, Walker said.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com