MDC announces closure of mandatory CWD sampling station at Huzzah Valley in Crawford County due to flooding

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Mo.-The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has closed the mandatory Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sampling station located at Huzzah Valley Resort in Steelville due to flood conditions. The station is one of 74 mandatory CWD sampling stations that will be open in select CWD Management Zone counties throughout the state the weekend of Nov. 16 - 17.

MDC recommends using one of the following two mandatory CWD sampling stations in Crawford County as alternatives:

• The Cuba Knights of Columbus Hall at 7057 Old Route 66 in Cuba
• The Steelville Fire Protection District Station No. 2 at 20437 Highway 19 near Cherryville

Alternatively, hunters may also take their deer to a mandatory CWD sampling station elsewhere in the state.

MDC is conducting mandatory sampling of harvested deer in select CWD Management Zone counties Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 16 - 17, the opening weekend of the November portion of firearms deer season, to test for CWD, an illness fatal to deer.

Hunters who harvest deer in any of the select counties within MDC's CWD Management Zone during opening weekend-which includes Jefferson, Franklin, Crawford, and Washington Counties in MDC's St. Louis region-must present their harvested deer at one of MDC's mandatory CWD sampling stations on the day of harvest, so staff can collect tissue samples for testing.

The data gathered will help MDC track and determine the extent of the disease, which so far includes confirmed cases in Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, and Washington counties within MDC's St. Louis region.

MDC is operating 11 mandatory CWD sampling station locations within the St. Louis region. For more information and an interactive map for all mandatory CWD sampling stations in the state, go to http://short.mdc.mo.gov/4Ko.