Texas Representative and Deer Breeder Introduces Legislation to Abolish State Agency that Regulates Deer Breeding

They say that the true measure of a man is looking at what he does with power and in the case of one Texas lawmaker, it looks as though he’s using it for personal gain. As we all gasp in surprise at yet another brazen move by an elected official, Texas Rep Pat Curry (R-Waco) has proposed some ballsy legislation aimed at overhauling the state’s Parks and Wildlife Department.

Stating that the agency has “lost its way”, the bill is among many others that have been introduced in the state legislature aimed at reducing regulations surrounding Chronic Wasting Disease - particularly surrounding management at captive deer breeding facilities.

With more than 3,000 full-time employees on staff at TPWD, Curry’s H.B. 4938 would dissolve the agency all together and disperse and transfer both employees and responsibilities to other “appropriate entities.” As per the bill, the General Land Office would soon oversee the management of state parks, hatcheries and wildlife management areas. The Department of Safety would run the law enforcement arm and the Department of Agriculture would then be in charge of managing state fish and wildlife.

The bill then shifts away from the dismantling of the state-run agency and turns its attention to the state’s ever-popular, but often controversial captive deer breeding facilities. Being no stranger to confrontation with state wildlife officials, many of these high-fence operations have a history of butting heads with TPWD. Given that captive whitetails in the state of Texas are not considered to be livestock, they are managed by the state agency and, as such, have been subject to increased regulation and scrutiny with regards to Chronic Wasting Disease over the years.

Given that some breeders are of the belief that TPWD officials have weaponized the disease in an attempt to shut down captive breeding operations, it sounds as though Curry, who owns a breeding facility of his own, belongs to that camp and is lashing out.

“I have the utmost respect for game wardens. My legislation is not an indictment on the game warden community,” Curry said in a statement shared with Texas A&M students. “Rather, the reforms I’ve offered are an attempt to improve upon a critical agency that’s lost its way when it comes to fulfilling its role of protecting landowners, farmers, ranchers, parks, water ways, the hunting community, and business rights — which includes the deer breeding industry which accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars to the Texas economy.”

Another bill filed by Curry this month sets out to abolish the Texas Animal Health Commission, which oversees captive deer herds in tandem with TPWD and plays a vital role in CWD testing state-wide. Additionally, Curry introduced H.B. 3607 which would take things a step further and would altogether eliminate certain provisions around permits, remove other regulations and reduce penalties for breeder violations. In what looks to be an act of protectionism, the bill would also reduce the minimum height mandated for captive breeding facilities from eight feet to seven, another step in de-regulating the industry as a whole. A companion bill filed by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) echoes the above sentiment by aiming to make pen-raised whitetails private property and thus no longer under the purview of TPWD. 

The flurry of bills aimed directly at state officials and agencies may have some merit among the captive breeding industry, but from a broader perspective of effective wildlife management, they ultimately will likely miss the mark. In addition to that, these bills, particularly the one proposed by Sen. Hall, are in staunch opposition to a 2020 Texas Supreme Court decision that declared that all captive deer are publicly owned.