HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-05-26 Public Comment - A. Craighead - funding for urban deer conflict outreach and education proposalFrom:April Craighead
To:Bozeman Public Comment; Joey Morrison; Douglas Fischer; Jennifer Madgic; Alison Sweeney; Emma Bode
Cc:Cola Rowley; Chuck Winn
Subject:[EXTERNAL]funding for urban deer conflict outreach and education proposal
Date:Friday, June 5, 2026 10:13:40 AM
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Dear Mayor Morrison, Deputy Mayor Fischer, Commissioners Madgic, Sweeney & Bode,
The Craighead Institute (CI) and the Gallatin Wildlife Association (GWA) began a
partnership this past year to address Bozeman and Gallatin County’s urban deer issues
and the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). We are in consultation with MT FWP
on the most recent scientific data on white-tailed deer numbers within the urban
landscape and the prevalence and spread of CWD. Gallatin County is lending its support
to this project with in-kind expertise and financial support.
To bring awareness of this issue to the public, we are proposing an educational and
outreach event during September of 2026. With guidance from MT FWP, we are
proposing to send out mailers to targeted homeowners within known white-tailed deer
hotspots within the city and county and then provide an educational forum for interested
stakeholders regarding urban deer numbers, property damage, safety and CWD.
We are hoping that the City of Bozeman would like to be included in this collaboration
and would be interested in providing matching financial support of $1,000 to help offset
the costs of producing an educational mailer, postage and other costs associated with
the project. GWA has pledged $2,000 and the county has pledged $1,000 towards this
project. If funding from the city were granted, we could be assured that we would have
enough funding for all of the mailers and other expenses. We are also seeking support
from other sources.
Background
CWD was first detected in wild deer populations in Montana in 2017 and has moved
through portions of the state quickly, it was first detected in Gallatin County in 2020.
Recent sampling of deer during the 2025 hunting season found an increased number of
positive CWD cases for white-tailed deer along the Gallatin River corridor and just south
of town. FWP is very concerned that if concentrations reach a certain level, CWD will be
transmitted from white-tailed deer to the general populations of mule deer, elk and
moose in and around Bozeman. This will be a big problem for the city, county, wildlife
enthusiasts, and hunters, not to mention countless animals. This increase can happen
very quickly as biologists have seen in the Ruby River Valley, where CWD was first
detected in 2019 and its prevalence is now approximately 39% in white-tailed deer and
has spread to other deer species.
Currently there is no cure for CWD and it is 100% fatal to deer, elk and moose. It is
transmitted by a prion: a very stable protein that can remain infectious for many years
just lying on the ground or attached to plants where it was deposited. It can be spread
through urine, feces, saliva and close bodily contact. Think of all those white-tailed deer
bedded down in your backyard. These are the perfect conditions for CWD to spread. It
can take several years for symptoms to manifest in CWD positive animals but in the final
stages, animals become emaciated, lethargic, confused and lose their fear of humans. It
is a slow and painful death.
The most recent FWP estimates are that there is a white-tailed deer population between
500 and 600 deer, with 60-70 deer per square mile in and around Bozeman. That is a very
large urban population. When Helena implemented its urban deer program in 2009 there
were 33-35 deer per square mile. That was before CWD had been detected in the state.
In the past four years, FWP has responded to 61 deer related cases. I asked the City to
compile the number of deer related instances, not necessarily deer mortalities, and the
number was 635 instances when police were called about some deer related interaction
since 2022.
MT FWP has very specific mandates on what its mission is and that does not involve
urban deer populations, they do not have the funding nor the manpower to cover the
ever-increasing needs of urban deer conflicts in this area. This partnership with GWA
derived from FWP sounding the alarm and looking to collaborate with other groups to
increase awareness on this issue. In the end, it will be the City and County that will need
to find a solution to this problem.
If you have other questions related to this project, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
April Craighead
April Craighead
Executive Director
Wildlife Biologist
Craighead Institute
201 So. Wallace Ave
Suite B2D
Bozeman, MT. 59715
406 585-8705
april@craigheadinstitute.org