North Dakota wants assurances that Minnesota officials are closely monitoring cattle and wild deer if the federal government agrees to ease requirements for bovine tuberculosis testing in much of that state.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to decide within weeks on a proposed "split state zone" for bovine TB testing in Minnesota. It would set a special management zone in the northwestern part of the state where the disease has been found in cattle and deer, and another zone for the rest of the state.

The North Dakota Board of Animal Health has never recognized another state's "split" status, State Veterinarian Susan Keller said Wednesday. She said North Dakota is more likely to support Minnesota's plan if that state "can prove strict (animal) movement controls."

That leaves open the possibility that even if the federal government approves Minnesota's plan, North Dakota might keep the Minnesota cattle import restrictions the animal health board approved last February to protect North Dakota's "TB-free" status, which it has held for more than 30 years.

"Our state has the right to impose more stringent import requirements," Keller said. But she said North Dakota hopes to support Minnesota's plan because the two states are "close industry partners."

Bill Hartmann, Minnesota's state veterinarian, said he has talked with Keller about Minnesota's plan and "would like for there to be free movement of cattle to other states based on the split-state status," if the USDA approves.

"We feel we are doing everything we can to contain the disease and eliminate the disease from that area," Hartmann said of northwestern Minnesota.

The state in June imposed new testing requirements in that area. In July, 45 of 67 eligible cattle producers signed herd buyout contracts with the state.

The proposed northwestern Minnesota management zone under the split-state proposal extends north to Canada, but its western edge is about 40 miles east of the North Dakota border.

Shawn Schafer of Turtle Lake, a North Dakota Board of Animal Health member, said he thinks the proposed zone, which encompasses about 2,700 square miles, should extend to the North Dakota line, as well as farther east and south in Minnesota, to further guard against wild deer spreading the disease.

"A little bit more of a cushion would make more sense," he said.

Charles Stoltenow, an extension veterinarian at North Dakota State University who acts as a consultant for the animal health board, also questioned the gap between the management zone and the Red River Valley.

"That's my only concern about this split-state status, that they do enough surveillance," he said.

Michelle Carstensen, wildlife health program coordinator for Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources, said wild deer surveillance already is being done to the west and south of the "core" bovine TB area. USDA officials considering the split-state proposal "have asked us to continue (that) level of surveillance," she said.

Wildlife officials also have killed deer in the Minnesota bovine TB area.

This fall, North Dakota's Game and Fish Department is increasing the number of available deer licenses in the northeastern part of the state. A special seven-day doe season also is planned in the northeast this fall for the first time, to try to reduce the deer numbers in that region.

Randy Kreil, the Game and Fish Department's wildlife division chief, said the moves are a precaution.

"We think the approach that the Minnesota DNR has taken with the TB issue (across the border) is appropriate," he said. "We agree with their approach at this point."

Tests of hundreds of deer killed by hunters in eastern North Dakota last year found no evidence of bovine TB, Kreil said.