PINEDALE - The Wyoming Livestock Board won't get any telephone calls from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department notifying the agriculture agency when elk and cattle are commingling on winter feedlines.

Controversy last week over the state veterinarian's response to the commingling of cattle and elk at a Jackson-area ranch has revealed a division between two state agencies.

State Veterinarian Dwayne Oldham complained that his agency was not notified that cattle had been exposed to brucellosis-infected elk, even though the Game and Fish Department was aware of the situation and was helping the landowner in attempts to separate the species.

Once he became aware of the situation, Oldham sent a representative to the ranch to announce his intent to quarantine and test the cattle for brucellosis, a contagious disease that causes abortion in hoofed animals.

"They knew they had an exposure problem," yet never contacted the Wyoming Livestock Board about the matter, Oldham said.

Oldham said the state wildlife and livestock agencies "should be working on these issues together."

Asked if he thought the threat of quarantine because of a commingling event might have chilling effect on cooperation, Oldham said, "Half of nothing is still nothing."

Oldham said as it now stands, the state wildlife agency isn't cooperating in notifying his agency.

"I don't think that could get any worse," Oldham said.

That's not the view of the state wildlife agency. Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland said, "I'm under the impression we have a positive working relationship."

Still, Cleveland said he has put Oldham on notice that Game and Fish has no intention of serving as an arm of the Wyoming Livestock Board's law enforcement power.

Cleveland said there is no problem in agency relationships, but there is a difference in opinion on how this issue should be handled.

"We have in the past, and will continue to do in the future, everything we can to minimize and prevent commingling," Cleveland said. "We are not going to be the extension of the law enforcement arm of the Livestock Board, and we will not report commingling to the state veterinarian."

Cleveland said department personnel cannot be put in the position of being between private property owners and the state veterinarian. Cleveland said his agency will not jeopardize positive working relationships with landowners through the reporting of commingling events.

"We have to work with private landowners in many, many areas, and we are not going to diminish our working relationships with livestock producers," Cleveland said.

Cleveland said the issue of reporting commingling is complicated by the simple question of, "At what point is it an issue?"

Is commingling an issue when elk arrive on private property for a few hours, or a few days, Cleveland pondered. "At what point is it a reportable situation?"

"We make a concerted effort, when we have a commingling situation" to resolve it, Cleveland said. "We have tried to keep from making this a cattle-vs.-elk situation."

"We are committed to doing our best to work with the producers and the state veterinarian," Cleveland said.

"We are all doing the best that we can do. I think everybody's trying."

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause abortion outbreaks in cattle, elk and bison. Wyoming lost its brucellosis-free status in 2003 after the discovery that a cattle herd next to an elk feedground near Pinedale was infected with the disease. The finding triggered restrictions on Wyoming cattle exports and led to costly testing of cattle before they're sold. The state is now seeking to regain the brucellosis-free status.