The Department of Environmental Conservation hereby finds that chronic wasting disease, a fatal transmissible neurodegenerative disease threatens the health and welfare of wildlife populations and captive cervids. The nature of chronic wasting disease requires prompt and extraordinary actions to address the threat posed by this disease. The purpose of this rule is to prevent re-introduction of this disease into New York, to contain the spread of this disease within New York if present, and to protect the health of wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and wild moose (Alces alces) in New York.