Blaine was wrong on deer culling story

As a member of the North Rutland Deer Alliance, I would like to register my dismay and some anger at the statements presented in Kane County Forest Preserve District staff naturalist Valerie Blaine’s article of Feb. 13 regarding the NRDA position on deer testing/culling.

If Ms. Blaine had been present at any of the many, many meetings we have attended at the Kane County Forest Preserve District the last two years, or contacted any of the NRDA members, or viewed our website at any time, she would have known her information was false. If she had done any of the above she couldn’t in good conscience have presented such incorrect information.

As such, I would like to correct the misinformation; the members of the North Rutland Deer Alliance have never, at any time or any meeting, said we are against testing for chronic wasting disease. What we have said is that we want the number of deer killed by the IDNR in Rutland Township for CWD testing be relative to the number of deer living in this specific area, as the numbers have been in Sleepy Hollow and West Dundee.

By the way, Valerie, there are wildlife Ph.D.s, MD and DVM degrees held by the NRDA members, so it’s not just “veterinary speak” as you stated, as well as extensive research having been done and in-depth conversations with biologists and heads of CWD departments from the USDA and state DNR departments in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Wisconsin, just to name a few of our reference contacts.

I believe Ms. Blaine and the forest preserve district as her employer owe the NRDA an apology and a retraction for publishing such misinformation, especially since the facts she presented obviously were not checked before her article was printed and the image presented of the NRDA was quite prejudiced.

Kathleen Rendl

Huntley