From the TC Record-Eagle:
TRAVERSE CITY — Some Michigan politicians want to lift a ban on using bait to lure deer during hunting season in lower Michigan.
State officials banned baiting over fears it could help spread a deadly deer disease, but politicians who oppose the restriction said those who grow and sell bait crops could suffer financially.
State Sen. James Barcia, D-Bay City, plus state Reps. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, and Jeff Mayes, D-Bay City, sponsored similar resolutions in the Michigan legislature this week to urge state officials to rescind a ban enacted after a deer at a private ranch in Kent County tested positive last month for chronic wasting disease.
The politicians contend state officials overreacted.
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Not everyone agrees.
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians supports the baiting ban. Michigan’s wild deer herd is a valuable natural resource for the public and the tribe, said Hank Bailey, a tribal fish and wildlife technician and elder tribe member.
“If they bow to this, they are jeopardizing that resource,” Bailey said, adding he fully expected politicians to meddle in the decision.
DNR officials, meanwhile, balk at the idea of politics interfering with wildlife management.
“Concentrating deer activity at bait sites increases the likelihood that diseases will be passed from deer to deer. The DNR doubts that most people would say ‘yes’ to the question: Are you willing to risk causing Michigan’s deer herd to be sick from chronic wasting disease from this day forward just so that you can use bait?” said Mary Dettloff, agency spokeswoman.
“The impact of CWD in the wild herd would hurt many small businesses around the state, many of whom do not sell bait.”
The politicians say it’s not just about lost profits, but also finding a real solution to the disease.
“I feel that it’s probably not a wise decision based on what’s happened in other states. Why would we try to do the same thing that doesn’t work?” Sheltrown said.
In Wisconsin, CWD was discovered in wild deer in 2002. The Wisconsin DNR banned baiting in areas surrounding CWD surveillance zones and also tried to eradicate the deer there through liberal hunting seasons and the use of sharpshooters.
“At best, we’ve slowed the spread of the disease,” said Davin Lopez, CWD biologist with the Wisconsin DNR.
No deer tested positive for CWD in areas where baiting remains legal, but numbers of deer with the disease in the state’s CWD surveillance zones did increase, he said.
A statewide baiting ban never went into effect in Wisconsin, primarily due to politics, Lopez said.
“It may very well be a drastic reaction, especially economically. But when you consider the risk, if Michigan ends up finding it in the wild deer it will be a much bigger problem,” he said. “It’s good to utilize all tools to limit the spread.”
Turtle Talk 
I tend to agree that baiting should be banned but not under the notion that it’s because of cwd. We have a baiting law that limits the use of bait but it is seldom enforced , some people abuse the use of bait. Two gallons over a 10 foot area is not going to concentrate deer to the point of spreading any disease. This is a over reaction by the dnr again. No study , just react. One deer on a private farm does not constitute a outbreak. Did anyone bother to check if the animal was from Michigan to begin with?I highly doubt it. Those farms buy ,sell, trade deer all the time. But we dont want to stop that business or put restrictions on that. How do you think they feed there deer? I highly doubt they let them fend for themselfs. They feed them in close proximity to one another. They feed them in mass.The feed them genenictly altered feed. And then they keep them all penned together on there fenced in farm.
So i really doubt that by the common hunter who goes hunting when he gets the time off work or can afford to get out into the woods enough to use the baiting law that was in place so that he may put the odds at about 10% into his favor. That cwd, tb or any other social disaese that gets dreamed up is going to be the end all for the Michigan Whitetailed Deer.
Here is a off the wall solution to the whole problem. PROPER DEER HERD MANAGEMENT!
I know sounds crazy but hey what the heck why not try something crazy. The doe a day trick isnt working on tb. 😉 (wink) The only thing it is working on is deer numbers and not for the better.
You want a booming deer herd in Michigan? Tell you congressman to bring QDM to the table. Stop the import of live crevid animals and enforce what baiting laws we have (or had ) on the books , and then exercise some common sense in the field.
That is the key to a healthy whitetailed deer herd not shoot from the hip management.
i think the band should be lifted it is not in wiled deer yet thay found the deer infected with the deses an a deer farm and if thay keep the farms from relesing the deer it wont spred and the farms have alot of brother and sister deer in the same facility and i think some brother and sister deer got it on and made a retart thay dont do that in the wiled becuse thay are more spreded out so lift the band
Hey itll give hunters the chance to do some real hunting, and go to the deer not have the deer come to them.
The “baiting” law is a violation of property owners right of their land use. Does anyone out there want to be told what to wear, how to cut your hair, etc. Without any proof the dnr sets a standard, why? The dnr is issuing doe permits to farmers in the so called T.B. area (a total lie) at a rate that will destroy the herd, but the dnr says it is their herd to manage, no, it belongs to ‘we the people’. As far as I see it, the dnr can keep their deer off my property just as I am responsible to keep my dog off your property. Oh yes, the last time is used ‘bait’ was use to trap an animal. If anyone out there thinks the dnr is looking out for hunters, they best quit drinking the kool-aid.