Legislature adjourns without passing baiting, feeding bill By JENNY PRICE Associated Press Writer MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Both houses of the Legislature adjourned for the year Friday without reaching agreement on a bill that would have imposed more restrictions on baiting and feeding deer. That means state residents who live outside of the 23 counties where there is a complete ban on baiting and feeding can continue to feed deer without limits. It also means deer hunters outside of those counties can still use up to 10 gallons of bait, the limit under current state law. The gun deer season opens Nov. 22. The legislation is part of a long-running dispute over whether Wisconsin should allow baiting and feeding as wildlife officials try to eradicate CWD, a fatal brain disease. Republican lawmakers deemed their legislation a compromise after they rejected the state Department of Natural Resources' plea for a statewide ban on baiting and feeding. Both versions of the bill would put a two-gallon limit on baiting and feeding statewide. But DNR wildlife administrator Tom Hauge said it makes no difference to state wildlife officials what amount of bait or feed people are permitted to use. Hauge said the DNR continues to support a statewide ban on baiting and feeding. "The fact that they haven't passed anything is probably good from the standpoint of not adding another layer of confusion," Hauge said. DNR officials have said allowing any baiting and feeding would artificially congregate animals and fuel the spread of the disease. They say the best science available suggests the disease is spread by animal-to-animal contact. "There certainly is not any shield protecting any part of the state from this disease," Hauge said. Despite the recommendation of the professional game managers, lawmakers contend a ban on baiting and feeding was not necessary outside of the areas where the disease has been located. The Assembly passed a bill in September that would give DNR officials the authority to ban baiting and feeding in any county where chronic wasting disease or bovine tuberculosis is found or any county within 10 miles of a place where an animal tested positive. The Senate approved the Assembly bill on a voice vote Friday but first amended the distance to 15 miles. That would reduce to 14 the number of counties where there is a complete ban on baiting and feeding. Senators also changed the bill to prohibit the use of animal parts or animal byproducts in feed material Both versions of the bill would allow feeding outside those areas so long as the feed is placed within 50 yards of an owner-occupied home or business open to the public. Feed also could be placed within 100 yards of a highway with a posted speed limit of at least 45 miles per hour. Gunderson said the Assembly would likely approve the changes the Senate made to the bill when it returns to the Capitol for an extraordinary session next month or its regular session in January. He also said he did not expect the lack of limits on baiting and feeding to result in an outbreak of CWD elsewhere in the state. "If it's found in other places, I don't think it's going to be because of baiting," he said. The disease was discovered in the state's wild deer herd near Mount Horeb in February 2002, the first time it had been discovered east of the Mississippi River. The DNR has since created an 1,150-square-mile area around Mount Horeb in the southwestern region of the state with the aim of reducing the herd as much as possible. The state recently announced plans to begin offering a $400 bounty for each CWD-positive deer harvested in those zones in an effort to entice landowners and hunters help them reduce the herd. ___ The bill is AB 519. ___ On the Net: State Legislature: http://www.legis.state.wi.us