The Libby area had one of the highest prevalences of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer in Montana in 2019, but now state wildlife officials are saying the percentage of animals with it has decreased.

At the April 17 Libby City Council meeting, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Wildlife Biologist Tonya Chilton-Radandt gave an update on the number of deer trapped and the number of deer donated to a Libby food bank.

CWD is a 100% fatal disease that infects members of the deer family, including elk, moose, mule deer and white-tailed deer. CWD is not a virus, bacteria or fungus. It is caused by infectious, misfolded proteins, called prions, that spread throughout the animal, resulting in organ damage and eventual death.

Of the 75 deer captured inside city limits, Chilton-Radandt said 38 deer were trapped from Hunting District 100, 21 from HD 103 and 16 from HD 104. Of those captured, seven deer tested positive for CWD and were taken to the landfill. There were 68 deer distributed to the local Libby Christian Church food pantry, Chilton-Radandt said. That's about 9%.

Estimates for prevalence in that area include the area in city limits and surrounding Libby, which have dropped in recent years.

In 2019, the pilot year for the capture project, the prevalence was 14%. At that time, it was the highest prevalence in the state of Montana, Chilton-Radandt said.

Since then, the prevalence has decreased from 2020 at 10% to 2021 at 8%. 2022 figures indicated about 9% of the deer sampled had CWD.

"We had 19 landowners participating this year who allowed access onto their property and those are especially important," Chilton-Radandt said.

In most of the area where state officials are trapping deer, hunting is not allowed, so local landowners provide an opportunity to reduce deer densities.

"Since we can't use hunting, it's really important that we are able to continue trapping inside city limits, and those landowners are allowing us to do that," Chilton-Radandt said.

The project has taken a ton of effort, Chilton-Radandt said. She also mentioned that FWP has concerns about the apparent increase in prevalence since last year.

"I spoke with our wildlife health lab colleagues just a couple of days ago, and we were told that up until this year, we were the only place in the state of Montana that was having an impact in reducing prevalence to this extent statewide," Chilton-Radandt said.

The effort that FWP is moving in with the deer is a two-pronged approach, it's a direct approach in terms of reducing density with the capture effort, but it also has a lot to do with education and information, she said.

"I just wanted to mention again how thankful we are that we are able to work with you guys and continue to work with (the Libby City Council) to spread the message that we really need to reduce wildlife feeding," she said.

Feeding wildlife is illegal for a number of reasons, including insurance rates, it brings in predators, and it has an impact on native deer.

Council member Kristin Smith asked if there was a reason deer weren't being donated to the Lincoln County Food Bank.

The short answer, Chilton-Radandt said, was history, but there isn't any reason. Originally the Libby Christian Church was the only organization that would take them, but it would be a good conversation to have as it would be good to spread the wealth, she said.

"We feel like it's a very important thing, and we're very thankful to be able to continue to work alongside the council and members of the public because that's the only way that we feel that we will continue to have an impact in the Libby area," Chilton-Radandt said.