In an open letter to state residents, Missouri’s director of conservation expressed his utmost desire to protect the state’s whitetail resource from chronic wasting disease. Although his sentiments appear genuine, we cannot help but take him to task for several erroneous statements made in the nearly 1,000-word press release.
Here’s a look at the Top 5 most perplexing statements:
1. CLAIM: “Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first detected in Missouri in 2010. By that time, CWD had been known to occur in eastern Colorado and Wyoming since the 1960s and was slowly spreading east across the great plains.”
FACT: CWD was first identified in a captive mule deer in a Frankenstein-like lab in Colorado in 1967. It wasn’t found in Wyoming until 1979, when it was found in a pen-raised blacktail. It wasn’t detected in a wild Colorado cervid until 1981.
2. CLAIM: “Research over the last 20 years has continued to demonstrate that, if left unmanaged, CWD will increase in prevalence and distribution leading to increased mortality in deer populations.”
FACT: Studies that have shown deer population declines are limited and span small areas. Example: Wisconsin studies indicating population losses were confined to small studies involving 136, 217, and 1,089 collared deer. Meanwhile, in 2025 the Wisconsin DNR estimated its statewide population at more than 2.1 million animals — nearly 500,000 more deer than they estimated 25 years prior.
3. CLAIM: “Aggressive management actions implemented by cooperating hunters, landowners, and agency staff over the last decade have been successful in slowing the number of infected deer on our state’s landscape.”
FACT: We know of no scientific reports from Missouri showing deer management actions that have conclusively slowed the spread of any disease.
4. CLAIM: “CWD has continued to be introduced to new parts of the state and spread where it was previously detected.”
FACT: We know of no scientific reports that indicate CWD was “introduced” (i.e.: “brought to” one area from another) in Missouri. The disease has been reported in new areas most likely due to increased testing, but to say it was introduced is misleading at best and, more likely, downright false.
5. CLAIM: “Others recognize that CWD is a serious threat but disagree with the approach we have implemented to address the disease.”
FACT: On this we can agree.
