Chronic wasting disease identified in reservation mule deer

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes last Tuesday confirmed a case of chronic wasting disease in a mule deer harvested in the Hog Heaven Wildlife Management Unit northeast of Elmo.

Since 2017 the fatal neurological condition has been found in over 1,600 deer, elk and moose across Montana, but this is the first confirmation of the disease on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Officials identified the case after a hunter submitted a carcass as part of voluntary sampling protocols. The CSKT Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation has suggested testing for all game animals harvested from the Hog Heaven area since 2019, when a chronic wasting disease case was confirmed 40 miles north of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Testing at the state laboratory confirmed the presence of the disease in the sample on Jan. 6.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to keep it off the reservation,” said Natural Resources Department head Richard Janssen Jr.

Chronic wasting disease is highly contagious and can spread quickly through animal-to-animal contact, including contact with infected carcasses.

He said the tribal wildlife officials flew over the area via helicopter last week and estimated herd size at between 350 and 400 mule deer. They plan to test an additional 100 to 150 samples in the Hog Heaven Wildlife Management Unit and surrounding areas to determine if the disease has spread. The unit extends from Elmo west and north as far as Niarada, and south to Irvine Flats.

Janssen said talks are ongoing with the Tribal Council about implementing an emergency action plan that would involve tribal member hunting and a possible administrative hunt. Either way, he said meat that doesn’t test positive will be redistributed through the Tribal Food Sovereignty Program to tribal elders and families in need.

Janssen urged hunters to continue to use carcass disposal sites and sample collection sites operated by state or tribal authorities. In Lake County, those collection sites are located on Hwy. 28 in Elmo, across from Westland Seed in Ronan, south of Arlee, and in Ravalli.

He said his department is also working with the Montana Department of Transportation to test roadkill in the area for chronic wasting disease.

Since July 2024, hunters have contributed 8,624 samples to state testing efforts, resulting in the positive identification of 335 cases. A dozen samples from Hunting District 170, which includes much of the Flathead Valley, have tested positive for chronic wasting disease this season. Those cases were isolated to the Flathead County landfill property where state wildlife officials have begun euthanizing white-tailed deer that come onto the site.

Janssen believes the mule deer was infected by infected animals north of the reservation. “Animals don’t know boundaries,” he adds.

There are no known cases of chronic wasting disease transmission to humans, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage hunters to test all animals from locations where it is known to occur and discourage eating any meat from infected animals.

According to Janssen, Tribal Fish and Game has received “a ton of calls” from tribal members and non-members with potential sightings of infected animals.

“It’s tough to tell visually by looking at them,” he says. “We’re doing our due diligence to ensure they do not get a foothold on the reservation because that could be detrimental to a subsistence food source our residents enjoy.”

    Map of the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone. (Courtesy of CSKT Wildlife Management Program)