LANSING, MI-- State Representative John Kivela is hoping a bill he introduced to combat chronic wasting disease in deer will win approval in the House and the Senate.
The legislation would increase the penalties for illegally bringing a deer carcass from a state with CWD into Michigan. Fines would range from $500 to $2,000, and violators could face up to 90 days in jail.
Kivela says a healthy deer herd is important to the economy, and deer hunting is threatened by the possibility of infected deer entering the U.P. from Wisconsin.
The Marquette Democrat introduced the same bill in the last session, but it died in the Senate.