Some of the findings in a state audit on Wisconsin's efforts to fight chronic wasting disease:
* The state Department of Natural Resources accounted for $26.8 million of the $32.3 million spent on CWD through fiscal year 2005-06.
* In CWD zones, the number of deer killed has declined from 23.1 per square mile during the 2003 hunting season to 17.4 per square mile during the 2005 hunting season.
* DNR sharpshooters accounted for 5.2 percent of the deer killed in the 2004 and 2005 hunting seasons.
* CWD tests on hunters' venison weren't available until 51.8 days from the time a deer was killed in November 2005. In 2003, results took 26.6 days.
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* The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has issued CWD-related quarantines for 43 deer farms through June 2006. A total of 95 animals have tested positive for the disease on seven farms.
* The Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory disposed of 370,768 pounds of deer tissue in its tissue digester in fiscal year 2005-06. About 94 percent of that came from the DNR's CWD surveillance program. The rest came from farm-raised deer.
* The number of deer imported in Wisconsin has declined nearly 91 percent since fiscal year 2001-02. The audit attributes the decrease to DATCP's stricter regulations on deer movement after CWD was discovered in Wisconsin.
Source: Legislative Audit Bureau
