The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission at its January 21 public hearing adopted a new interim rule governing Deer Management Permit (DMP) activities as part of the state’s response to the detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in captive deer populations.

Modifications to the DMP are needed for consistency in movement qualification standards developed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Animal Health Commission. These standards help to increase the probability of detecting CWD if a deer infected with CWD is released from a DMP facility. The new rule establishes classifications for DMP facilities and imposes testing requirements at DMP release sites where deer trapped on Class II Triple T trap sites or breeder deer from TC 2 or TC 3 deer breeding facilities have been released and would require all deer introduced to Level 3 DMP facilities or released on Class III release sites to be tagged with an Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) or National Uniform Eartagging System (NUES) ear tag.

In other action, the Commission also approved amendments to rules governing permits for the aerial management of wildlife and exotic species. The changes are designed to remove problematic provisions, streamline the process, clarify regulatory language to enhance compliance and enforcement, and achieve greater administrative efficiencies.

Adopted Commission actions take effect 20 days after they are published in the Texas Register in February.