By PAIGE HOUPT
Capital News Service
LANSING- Some three years later northeast Michigan residents still blame a ban on deer baiting for harming the local economy.
In 2008, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission prohibited hunters from baiting deer. The ban was an attempt to control bovine tuberculosis in deer after chronic wasting disease was found in one deer in Kent County.
Last June, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources lifted the statewide ban on deer baiting for the entire Lower
Photo: cseeman (Flickr)
Peninsula, with the exception of Alpena, Alcona, Crawford, Iosco, Oscoda, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties.
The ban remains in effect in those areas because they are still considered areas of concern for bovine tuberculosis. The disease, which causes drastic weight loss in deer, can be fatal and is easily transmitted between animals when they group in small areas or congregate around piles of bait or feed.
Jeff Kala, a Presque Isle cattle farmer, says his decrease in business is due to the high risk of bovine tuberculosis and the caution of meat buyers.
“People are more aware now and are much more cautious when they are buying their meat,” Kala said.
Kala said the economic fallout of banning deer baiting might have some type of effect on local hotels or restaurants.
“Tourism might be down a little bit, but the bovine tuberculosis is the real issue.”
T.C. Hite has owned the Bay Motel in Alpena for 28 years and has noticed a decrease in the number of hunters who stay during the season.
“I’m sure it’s a combination of both the baiting ban and the bovine tuberculosis scare,” Hite said.
“Its not one or the other, I’m sure it’s a combination of both.”
State Rep. Peter Pettalia, R- Presque Isle, introduced a House resolution to encourage the DNR to allow baiting in the region for a two-year trial. The Michigan House of Representatives approved that resolution at the end of June.
Pettalia argues that the Lower Peninsula ban made more sense when it affected every county, but to segregate one county from an economic advantage is discrimination.
“It was more acceptable when everything was the same in the Lower Peninsula,” he said. “When they separated us six counties in northeast Michigan, it puts those counties at an economic disadvantage.”
Local officials say the baiting ban has impacted the area because hunters spend money in the hotels, restaurants and local bait shops, and they are more likely to hunt in areas were baiting deer is permitted.
“It has definitely impacted the area in all economic aspects,” said Jackie Krawczak, executive director of the Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce.
“It couldn’t have happened at a worst time, it all seemed to happen when the economy began to take a dive and when workers were retiring from the auto industry.”
Krawczak said the chamber and local officials believe it’s important to educate local residents and farmers on how deer baiting benefits the economy.
In August, Pettalia invited residents to a series of town hall meetings with Dick Posthumus, senior policy adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder, to discuss the issue.
This article is poorly researched and poorly written. Merely reporting what people say is not journalism. There is a story here, but this article does not address it.
The article should be retitled to read:
Economic fallout from deer disease scare continues three years later
This economic fallout is minute compared what would happen to tourism (deer hunting) and the cattle industry if chronic wasting disease (CWD) or TB got loose in our wild deer herd and then into cattle.
As MUCC noted in Michigan Out-of-Doors several years ago, things would get “interesting”.
One only need look at what happened in Britain with mad cow disease (a prion disease like CWD). Much of the cattle herd had to be destroyed, and Britain could not export any beef for a long time.
MDNR deserves an award for their knowledge and bravery in dealing with this problem for the greater good.
Ok, so there were a few years without baiters in the woods. The impact could easily be that with only hunters in the woods, and not both hunters and baiters, hunters would have a better chance of getting a deer. So, if these counties had promoted themselves properly, citing the better hunting odds and a quality hunting experience, they would likely have benefited from the ban. Instead, some of the folks there they just seem to be whining.
Oh, get real! The economy based on deer baiting is a false economy, built up after baiting became widespread. Before there was wholesale baiting of deer, the farmers planted different crops for human consumption, or didn’t plant at all and worked elsewhere. It is just cheaper to plant crops for deer bait because less chemicals are used and less time is involved. The gas stations just sold gas, beer, pop and chips. Now the gas stations/party stores sell even more garbage besides deer bait. More seasonal motels and restaurants were built than can be filled. Now there are fewer hunters because there are fewer people hunting up north, southern MI has a huge deer population with big racked bucks.
When I first started deer hunting some 55 yrs. ago bait was unheard of, you used knowledge, skill and luck to bag a buck. The kill was infinitely more satisfying, and the animal was certainly more respected than now-a-days. What’s the enjoyment of sitting in a heated coop with electronics of all manner, watching does and fawns parading by a pile of cabbage, corn or sugar beets, hoping that a buck is foolish enough to show.
Yes, there was a period of 10-12 yrs. where I baited when I was archery hunting, but that is long past. Never killed a deer of either sex over my bait, poor baiter. But, oh the irony, now and for most of the last 30 yrs, I post on deer trails between other folk’s bait piles and usually take a buck, with corn in it’s stomach. Moral to that story is, I’m still somewhat dependent on bait, but, I use knowledge, skill and luck to position myself for the kill.
Lifting the ban won’t accomplish anything except increase the risk of TB transmission among deer and DECREASE the likelihood that anyone would want to hunt in those counties. These politicians need a lesson in disease ecology before citing “economic fallout” as a reason to make rash decisions.