The Cornell Center for Conservation Social Sciences, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University recently hosted and will continue to host a series of listening sessions to help NYSDEC develop a better understanding of hunter beliefs and behaviors related to CWD. Information from focus groups will complement information from a recent statewide hunter survey on CWD (Siemer, W.F., T.B. Lauber, and R.C. Stedman. 2020. New York hunters’ perceptions of chronic wasting disease. CCSS Publ. Series 20-3. Dept. of Nat. Resources & the Environment, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 57 pp.)
The focus group topics include: views on CWD, use of scent lures, disposal of deer carcasses, and returning to NYS with a deer taken outside the state.
Group size for the meetings is between 10-12 hunters per meeting. Meeting dates and times are (#1) Jan 12 (6:30pm – 8:30pm), (#2) Jan 13 (1pm-3pm), (#3) Jan 14 (6:30pm-8:30pm). Meetings are being held virtually via Zoom (participation by computer or telephone). NYSCC Grassroots News will publish results in the near future.
The Cornell Center for Conservation Social Sciences, Department of Natural Resources will be doing more focus groups on a closely related CWD project in late winter/early spring, so there will be future chances to participate. Anyone interested in participating should contact Cornell Center for Conservation Social Sciences at the following email address: wfs1@cornell.edu.