Fish and Game personnel take a CWD sample, then skin, quarter, and salvage as much meat as possible. Meat then gets carefully bagged, labeled, and transferred to a meat processing facility for storage until testing results come back.  Positive animals will be properly disposed of. 

Animals that test negative for CWD will be processed and donated to local food banks or directly folks that could use the meat. Landowners can retain their deer but may also provide carcasses to Fish and Game for processing and donation. All potentially infectious carcass parts, including heads and spinal column, will be collected, and transported by Fish and Game to an approved landfill.

CWD is a contagious and fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. There is no cure, vaccine, or efficient and reliable CWD test for live, wild animals. CWD is long lived in the environment and can be contracted by animals simply foraging in an area with CWD in the soil. If left unchecked, the disease poses a long-term risk to deer and elk herds and hunting opportunities. 

In 2022, Fish and Game sampled 3,171 deer, elk and moose for CWD statewide and all 15 positive cases were detected in a 6-mile radius within the Slate Creek drainage. The disease was first detected in Idaho in 2021 in the Slate Creek area. The project area encompasses the Slate Creek watershed from the Salmon River east to Nut Basin Road and the southern portion of the McKinzie Creek watershed south to the northern portion of the John Day Creek watershed. The project area encompasses less than 9 percent of Unit 14. 

This project is expected to last several more weeks, or until control actions are deemed no longer effective or feasible. Contact the Clearwater Regional office for more information (208) 799-5010.