Our view

Because of the importance elk have to the state, Wyoming must use all the tools it has to maintain its herd numbers.

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In Wyoming's early days, severe winters brought heartbreaking scenes in which thousands of elk died from starvation.

In order to save these icons of the West, the government began feeding elk herds nearly a century ago, and have been feeding them ever since.

Wyomingites for generations have shown a strong desire to maintain an artificially high number of elk, and have supported the use of feedgrounds to maintain that number.

But just as feedgrounds have proved an important tool in maintaining elk numbers, reducing the use of feedgrounds may be an important tool to halt the spread of infectious diseases in herds.

Brucellosis, which causes some animals to abort, is common in elk and bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area. The fear that the disease could spread to livestock is why bison migrating out of Yellowstone National Park are sometimes shot.

Another disease, chronic wasting disease, has not reached Wyoming's feedgrounds, but there is speculation among some researchers that it could, and could have even more devastating effects on elk herds than brucellosis. It attacks the central nervous system of deer and elk, causes them to wither and is always fatal.

Wildlife managers in southeast Wyoming and northwest Colorado have watched the spread of the disease for more than 30 years, and there is a concern - albeit far from unanimous - that Wyoming's feedgrounds could become a hot spot for the illness. Adding to that concern is the fact the disease has a long incubation period; it may be present in more places than expected.

Under the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's draft management plan, the department will continue to test and monitor for chronic wasting disease, collecting between 4,000 and 5,000 samples from harvested deer and elk this fall. If positive samples are found, 50 more animals from the area would be harvested and tested. If any of those result in positive tests, the process would be repeated until no positives are found in the area.

Those methods, along with others - including the development of vaccines - will help curb the spread of diseases. Reducing the use of feedgrounds is another tool that needs to be tested.

It won't be easy. Game managers are right in assessing each feedground for its own merits and challenges, and planning accordingly. There must be adequate winter forage in the area - a goal that can be more easily reached by using conservation easements, improving habitat and compensating affected ranchers as herds transition to more natural, free-ranging ways.

Maintaining herd numbers that don't collapse under heavy snow is something the state must do, however, even if it means developing a more complex, coordinated approach. There are very real economic reasons for doing so, and even more reasons that are less tangible but importantly tethered to the identity of our state and its people.