Pennsylvania Game News - November 2018 - 44

and taxidermists within DMAs can be
accessed online through the CWD page
at www.pgc.pa.gov.
Hunters using head-collection
containers must leave the completed
harvest tag in the deer's ear. The
information on the tag allows hunters to
be notified of test results. Head-collection
containers are locked and the tags are
secure within.
All deer heads should be doublebagged in plastic before being deposited,
and plastic bags usually are available at
the collection site.
Test results typically come back
within four to six weeks. The results are
reported as positive if CWD is detected,
not-detected if it's not, or unsuitable if the
deer couldn't be tested.
While there currently is no evidence
of CWD being transmitted to humans,
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommends people avoid
exposure to CWD-infected meat.
To reduce the risk of spreading CWD,
the export of high-risk deer parts from a
DMA is banned.
High-risk parts deposited in a Game
Commission collection container should
be double-bagged and sealed.
Hunters may leave high-risk parts
at the location of the kill site, but when
doing so, burying the high-risk parts is
recommended. So long as high-risk parts
are not exported from a DMA, hunters
may dispose of high-risk parts with their
commercial trash service that sends trash
to a lined landfill. High-risk parts disposed
in this manner also should be doublebagged and sealed.
A complete list of high-risk parts and
more information on DMAs can be found
on pages 22 and 23 of this issue, and much
more information on CWD can be found
at the Game Commission's website.
44

GROUSE FILM HONORED
A nine-minute documentary that's
generated more the 29,000 views on the
Game Commission's YouTube channel
was recognized earlier this year with a
nationwide award - the latest in a string
of honors since its January 2017 release.
"Ruffed Grouse," by Game Commission
filmmaker Tracy Graziano, shares the
plight of Pennsylvania's state bird and
the agency research that linked grouse
population declines to West Nile virus.
The film in July was selected by the
Association for Conservation Information
as the 2018 thrid-place winner in the long
video category.
That award is in addition to previous
honors from The 2017 University of
Idaho Fish & Wildlife Film Festival;
the 2017 American Conservation Film
Festival in West Virginia; the 2017 Wildlife
Conservation Film Festival in New York;
the 2017 FIIN in Portugal; the 2018
NatureTrack Film Festival 2018, California;
and the 2018 Outdoor Film Festival in
Utah.
Game Commission grouse biologist
Lisa Williams, whose research is featured
in the film, said the documentary has been
critically important in raising awareness
among hunters about the risk of West Nile
virus to grouse and is one of the reasons
other state wildlife agencies started
looking into West Nile as a contributing
cause of decreasing grouse populations.
For Graziano, such results are
rewarding.
"The most rewarding thing I can hope
for in any of my film projects is to help
influence change for the benefit of wildlife
and conservation," said Graziano.
Game Commission Executive Director
Bryan Burhans said the film and research
are things of which to be proud.
"Lisa Williams' research into the
ruffed grouse population decline in
Pennsylvania is cutting-edge sciencebased wildlife management," Burhans
said. "Documenting these important
findings by using the latest technology
by skilled filmmaker Tracy Graziano so
others can learn and benefit exemplifies
why the Pennsylvania Game Commission
is at the forefront in modern wildlife
management."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE_KnTAt7AY http://www.pgc.pa.gov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE_KnTAt7AY
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - November 2018
