Brucellosis task force supports pilot program, but money needed
BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Thursday, December 16, 2004 12:00 am
LANDER - Some elk near Pinedale would be tested for brucellosis - and slaughtered if they test positive - under a plan crafted by the Wyoming Brucellosis Task Force.
Members of the group made their last changes to a report headed for the governor's desk during a daylong meeting here Wednesday.
The report includes the recommendation to test elk and kill those that test positive in a program that involves a 5-mile fence and 8-foot-tall corral near Pinedale.
One of the controversial alterations to the plan Wednesday was to change the phrase "test and slaughter" to "test and remove." Critics called it simply an effort to tone down the fact that under the pilot program, elk that test positive for brucellosis will be slaughtered n all in an effort to prevent transmission of the disease from wildlife to livestock.
Wyoming has lost its valuable brucellosis-free status with the discovery of brucellosis in western Wyoming cattle.
Given the public controversy over Montana slaughtering bison with brucellosis, what's going to happen when the public notices the slaughter of elk? That was the questioned asked by Meredith Taylor, a representative of the Wyoming Outdoor Council.
"My mother told me there are no quick fixes, that solutions take time, hard work and give 'n' take," Taylor said. "I see a lot of giving by wildlife and not by agriculture."
According to participants in the task force, the pilot program near Pinedale would systematically remove elk that test positive as a way to lower the presence of brucellosis in that herd. The pilot program is supposed to run for five years, remove no more than 10 percent of the herd, and have a 95 percent confidence level in reducing the presence of the brucellosis bacterium in the herd.
Elk would be blocked from private ranchlands and access to traditional wintering grounds with the 5-mile fence. A corral-like holding area would allow wildlife managers to segregate and control the elk for testing, release or removal.
Terry Cleveland, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said the task force is also proposing working with ranchers to avoid commingling of livestock and wildlife, research on brucellosis vaccines and brucellosis testing throughout Wyoming.
Of the seven elk herds in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, one herd now has a plan designed for brucellosis eradication, yet six more herd plans need to be developed, he said.
"It all depends on funding," Cleveland said, adding that the department needs $2.2 million to put the task force plans into place.
State Sen. John Hines, R-Gillette, told fellow task force members that the proposed budget for brucellosis eradication faces tough sledding in the Legislature, especially because it involves money from the General Fund and would be an ongoing program. Other task force members urged one another to talk to their representatives and senators back home, to build support for the overall plan.
Cathy Purves, a representative of Wyoming Wildlife Federation, said the task force supports the pilot program. Language in the report emphasizes that pilot program success will be based on not significantly reducing the herd as well as demonstrating reduction of brucellosis.
She also said that regarding the controversial issue of whether elk feedgrounds should be kept open or phased out, there will be majority and minority reports attached to the report for the governor. The task force report does not recommend closing the feedgrounds.
Public comment differed sharply on the feedground issue.
Bobby Lane, a Fremont County member of the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said the feedgrounds must remain.
"If there's a phaseout of feedgrounds, there will be an explosion of brucellosis," he said, as hungry elk invade cattle feed lines.
Wrong, said a trio of conservationists.
WOC's Taylor reminded task force members that wherever there are feedgrounds, there is also brucellosis. Where there are no feedgrounds, from Montana to Colorado, there's no brucellosis, she said.
She likened feedgrounds to giant Petri dishes that breed disease.
A more rational, scientific approach would be to phase out the feedgrounds, then protect livestock by fencing them away from wildlife, allowing wildlife to disperse to winter range, she said.
Bob Hoskins, a Crowheart conservationist, said he was surprised and pleased that members of the task force are at least showing a greater understanding about the role of feedgrounds in brucellosis. He warned that with this status quo approach, Wyoming will someday find a chronic wasting disease epidemic in its feedgrounds. He also warned that shooting elk because they have brucellosis simply gives more ammunition to groups that want to put an end to public lands grazing.
The task force report will be presented to Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Jan. 5.