Outdoors: FWP check stations on the Hi-Line set up to look for CWD

Deer, elk and moose hunters need to remember the chronic wasting disease check stations on the Hi-Line and the meaning of the transportation restriction zone in northern Liberty County.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 4 has CWD check stations set up in Chester and just north of Shelby on Interstate 15. Additional CWD check stations are being run in Region 6, as well as in Regions 2, 3 and 5.

All hunters are required to stop at all check stations.

Because a CWD positive deer was taken last fall north of Chester, any member of the deer family — which includes mule and white-tailed deer, elk and moose — taken this year in Liberty County north of U.S. Highway 2 must have the head and spinal column removed before it can be taken out of Liberty, Hill and Toole counties.

Generally, FWP Region 4 check station workers report good compliance from hunters in the area.

CWD is a progressive, fatal neurological disease that effects deer, elk and moose.

The disease has not been shown to spread to people, pets, livestock or wildlife outside of the deer family. However, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend not consuming meat from an animal known to be infected with CWD. The CDC also recommends that hunters have deer tested if they were harvested in areas where CWD is known to be present.