Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed a bill, keeping the baiting of deer and elk illegal in Michigan.

The state’s Natural Resources Commission enacted a baiting ban last year for the entire Lower Peninsula and parts of the U.P. to slow the spread of the chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis.

Wildlife regulators say deer and elk gathering at baiting piles can spread the deadly illnesses affecting Michigan’s deer and elk herds. But the Michigan Legislature passed a House Bill in the fall that would have stripped the NRC’s authority to impose baiting bans.

Whitmer is concerned that overturning the baiting ban could allow chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis to spread among deer and elk, eventually affecting Michigan’s cattle.