Specifically, the board opposes Section 12 of Senate Bill 513, which would allow the state Department of Agriculture to regulate white tail deer produced and sold for commercial purposes.

The fear behind this section of the proposed legislation is that it would increase the number of deer farms in the state and lead to the introduction of Chronic Wasting Disease to penned deer in North Carolina and ultimately the wild population of deer, North Carolina Sportsman reported in October.

The proposed legislation is viewed by the supporters, the magazine reported, as an easing of current restrictions set by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. These are restrictions against the movement of pen-raised deer so that more farms can be created and more of the animals can be shipped to other parts of the country to be hunted in controlled environments.

Commissioner Patrick Qualls brought the matter of a resolution to the table, saying it runs against the grain of the county's hunting heritage and would significantly impact a robust economy centered around hunting. “If this passes we can do nothing about it.”

The economic threat, Sergeant Carl Hatcher, of the enforcement division of the Wildlife Resources Commission, would spread across property values and if Chronic Wasting Disease, an always fatal neurological disease arrives, hunters will become disinterested in hunting a diseased population of deer.

“If Chronic Wasting Disease come in here there's no getting rid of it,” Commissioner Rives Manning said. “The wild deer population is gone.”

Board Chair Vernon Bryant said the county needs to pass the resolution, once drafted, to Senator Angela Bryant and pass it on to Senate leadership.

Lori Medlin, executive director of the Halifax Convention and Visitors Bureau, said after the discussion of the matter, she planned to get the state Travel and Tourism Coalition to oppose the legislation as well as the local tourism board.

A 2011 wildlife report notes that CWD has not been detected in any samples from deer tested in North Carolina.

The disorder is similar to mad cow disease in cattle, the report says, and was first discovered in captive mule deer in Colorado in 1967.

According to the North Carolina Sportsman article, CWD has now spread to 21 states, including Virginia.

The 2011 report says, “North Carolina has been very proactive in efforts to protect wild and captive cervids from CWD. Early efforts consisted of implementation of temporary rules relative to movement and possession of cervids followed by a more deliberative approach to crafting rules and statutes to (ensure) continued protection of public and private wildlife resources.”

Detection of CWD in the state, the report notes, would cause an estimated $976,820 loss in annual license sales as the number of certified license holders declines.

Qualls was pleased that a resolution will be drafted. “I'm happy that everybody was onboard. We need to step up and protect the natural resource we have. We are number one in state of North Carolina for recorded deer harvests. We need to protect our resources for the heritage of hunting and the economic impact for Halifax County and surrounding areas.”