Mapping chronic wasting disease management: Identifying opportunities for intervention.

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to model the social-ecological system that encompasses chronic wasting disease management in the United States. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, neurologically degenerative disease that impacts many cervid species in North America (e.g., elk, moose, mule deer, and white-tail deer). Active management of CWD in the U.S. is largely conducted by state fish and wildlife management agencies who act independently to manage CWD transmission under unique circumstances and CWD outbreaks in vastly different prevalence’s. This research effort seeks to develop and provide guidance to state agencies in working towards more cohesive strategies and identifying important intervention points that are common across different management situations.