David Michael Miller
Here’s the main thing you have to know: Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist does not care about chronic wasting disease.
CWD is spreading rapidly in the Wisconsin deer herd. The latest testing shows that it infects just under 10% of the white tailed deer here, with concentrations just west of Madison, but it is also spreading to other parts of the state. CWD is a disease that literally eats away at the animals’ brains. It’s always fatal. There are no known cases of it jumping to humans, but it hasn’t been proved that that’s impossible.
In response to the latest report — which the Walker administration’s Department of Natural Resources tried to bury — two Democratic lawmakers contacted the governor and asked him to take action to combat the disease. When Walker took over as governor, the DNR pretty much stopped all efforts to contain CWD.
Walker responded in a surprising way. He listened and then responded with actions, including a call for more study so that a more thoughtful approach might be taken going forward. To be sure, Walker’s actions are timid and inadequate, and if this blog were about CWD itself, I’d blast the governor on that issue again.
But what I find interesting in all this is the sequence of events. First, an objective report identifies a problem. Second, legislators from the other party raise the issue with the governor and ask him to do specific things. Third — and this is where things get crazy — the governor doesn’t ignore or shut down those legislators, but listens and acts. And fourth, this could lead to stronger action in the future to confront a real problem to Wisconsin’s natural resources, economy and culture.
If this all seems strange to you it’s only because, like me, you’ve come to expect this sequence of events: First, a problem nobody thought was a problem is identified (public employee unions, civil service, tenure, etc.). Second, majority party legislators act swiftly with a minimum of public scrutiny and with absolutely no input allowed from the minority party to push through whatever it is they want. Third...well, there is no third. End of story.
So, why are things at least somewhat better regarding CWD? Because ideological masters like Grover Norquist — president of Americans for Tax Reform and prime promoter of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which seeks lawmakers’ commitment to never raise taxes — have never heard of it and don’t care. There is no ALEC model legislation, no pledge to never, ever deal with it, none of what has become the usual concerted, strategic, national policy direction from on high.
The health of the deer population is a Wisconsin issue being treated with at least the faint pine scent of the Wisconsin way. Sure, there are powerful economic forces (deer farms, businesses that make money on hunting) and cultural forces (hunters who don’t want to be forced to shoot does or stop feeding deer) that need to be reconciled with scientific management of our natural resources for the long-term public interest.
But at least on this issue, at this moment, there’s some attempt to do exactly that. It’s refreshing and also heart-breaking because it reminds us of the Wisconsin we used to have. Let’s hope Grover Norquist never takes up hunting.
