Alabama bill would allow deer breeders to ignore CWD laws

Outdoorlife.com article

"A handful of Alabama lawmakers are pushing a bill that could totally upend whitetail deer management there. Introduced in the state House Thursday, the proposed legislation would make all of the state’s high-fence deer private property, and it would make deer breeders immune to the CWD regulations that have been imposed in Alabama, as in other states, to protect wild deer herds.

State wildlife officials are not mincing words about the bill, which they view as a direct threat to Alabama’s wildlife and hunting traditions. The National Deer Association is also speaking out against it.

If passed, HB509 would revise the laws that allow Alabamians to raise and propagate designated game birds, game animals, and fur-bearers. Under current law, licensed individuals can breed not only whitetails, but also elk, fallow deer, and any other nonnative species that was brought into Alabama prior to 2006. Although they’re defined as livestock under the legal code, pen-raised whitetail deer are still considered a public resource in the state. "