CSKT hosts meetings on Chronic Wasting Disease

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes urge hunters to help protect deer, elk, and moose populations by preventing the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) on the Flathead Reservation.

CWD is a 100 percent fatal disease that infects members of the deer family, including elk, moose, mule deer and white-tailed deer.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, nine cases have been reported statewide from among 167 tissue samples turned in since July; so far, no CWD infections have been recorded on the reservation.

Hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts should report sick-looking deer, elk or moose. If hunters shoot an animal that looks diseased or sick, they should report it immediately to the local FWP office or Tribal Fish and Game for further instructions and should limit their handling of the carcass.

Wildlife officials will need to diagnosis and verify diseased or sick harvested animals to determine if an animal is fit for consumption or eligible for a replacement tag.

On the Flathead Reservation, hunters are encouraged to stop by Tribal Big Game Check Stations to have CWD tissue samples pulled and to get entered into a monthly raffle.

Beginning November 2024; check stations are open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the following locations: Thursday-Saturday across from Westland Seed in Ronan, and Fridays and Saturday at the Highway 28 pullout in Elmo and the AIS Watercraft inspection station in Ravalli.

A drop box is available around the clock, Monday-Thursday, at the CSKT Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation office, 406 6th Ave. E. in Polson.

The wildlife management program will also host meetings to discuss the reservation-wide Chronic Wasting Disease management plan and provide demonstrations on how to pull CWD samples.

Upcoming meetings will be held at the Barber Shop in Hot Springs, 6 p.m. Oct. 17; Glacier Brewery in Polson, 6 p.m. Oct. 24; and Ronan Cooperative Brewery, 6 p.m. Oct. 31.

For more information or to sign up for the Depredation Hunt Program as a landowner or a tribal hunter, contact Kaylie Durglo, tribal wildlife biologist, at 406-883-2888 ext. 7284 or kaylie.durglo@cskt.org.

For details on the state's plan for managing CWD, visit fwp.mt.gov/cwd.