Washington opens self-service CWD check station, new restrictions placed on importing meat, antlers

Wildlife officials in Washington have opened a self-service station for chronic wasting disease, the first of its kind in the state.

The kiosk is in Colville at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife District Office at 755 S. Main St. The station is open 24 hours a day.

CWD is a deadly neurological disease that kills deer, moose and elk. The disease was discovered in Idaho last year. There have been no known cases in Washington. WDFW, however, has beefed up its surveillance efforts in hopes of stopping, or at least slowing, the spread. Last year the agency ran several hunter check stations, the first time they’d done so in more than a decade. Agency biologists will continue to run in-person stations this season in Region 1 (see sidebar).

The self-service kiosk, however, offers another option. At the kiosk there are tools to remove the deer or elk head and antlers. Once the head is removed, hunters need to fill out a data sheet and place both the head and sheet into a garbage bag and deposit that into the garbage can at the site. WDFW staff will collect heads and extract lymph nodes for testing. This kiosk is open to both hunters and those that salvage deer and elk from roadways.

In addition to the check stations, Washington also has new restrictions on what hunters can bring into the state.

For those hunting outside of Washington, regardless of whether or not CWD is known to be present where they’re hunting, only the following items may be imported to Washington:

• Meat that has been deboned in the state or province where it was harvested and is imported as boned-out meat.
• Skulls and antlers with velvet removed, antlers attached to the skull plate, or upper canine teeth, including bugler, whistlers and ivories from which all soft tissue has been removed.
• Hides or capes without heads attached.
• Tissue imported for use by a diagnostic or research laboratory.
• Finished taxidermy mounts.

For more information wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/diseases/chronic-wasting.