JACKSON - As a ranch owner outside Jackson is forced to test his cattle for brucellosis after elk and cattle commingled, both sides of the elk feedground debate are pointing to the episode as reason to support their cases.

Conservationists said this week the uproar strengthens the call for phasing out feedgrounds; ranchers say the incident shows exactly why feedgrounds are needed.

Up the Gros Ventre drainage outside Jackson - where three elk feedgrounds have existed for decades - elk came down the valley onto a cattle ranch this winter, forcing the rancher to test his cattle for brucellosis. Those three feedgrounds have been targeted by some conservationists as ones that would possibly be phased out so elk can disburse and forage on native winter range.

Lloyd Dorsey with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition said the recent events - which included emergency feeding of elk stressed by deep snow - show something needs to change.

"It's symptomatic of the need for change," Dorsey said. "The status quo doesn't work, which is why we and others have proposed some of the creative solutions for phasing out elk feedgrounds."

Dorsey said efforts should be placed on "strategic fencing options" to prevent commingling of elk and cattle "as part of a careful phase-out strategy."

Wyoming lost its brucellosis-free status in 2003 after cattle near the Muddy Creek feedground in western Wyoming tested positive for brucellosis - a disease that can cause cattle to abort. Brucellosis is carried by some individuals in wild elk herds, and is often transmitted through contact with aborted fetus fluids.

Loss of brucellosis-free status caused several states, including Nebraska and Idaho, to enact restrictions on Wyoming cattle imports and led to costly testing of Wyoming cattle before they are sold. The state last month submitted a petition to regain its brucellosis-free status.

Albert Sommers, a Pinedale rancher and member of the Upper Green River Cattlemen's Association, said the situation up the Gros Ventre reinforces the need for feedgrounds.

"If there were no feedgrounds, what happened to (the rancher) would be a common occurrence," Sommers said.

He also said the idea of fencing off ranches is not practical, as wildlife often use other parts of ranches, and erecting fencing to eliminate elk would also eliminate benefits to other wildlife.

But Dorsey said maintenance of feedgrounds in Sublette and Teton counties - in part to keep elk from cattle feedlines - didn't prevent brucellosis from being transmitted to cattle in recent years.

"The status quo needs to be changed," he said. "It's multi-faceted. It cannot be done recklessly; it has to be done in stages."

Dorsey and other conservationists argue that feedgrounds artificially concentrate elk, resulting in unnaturally high rates of disease transmission.

According to Terry Cleveland, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Gros Ventre valley is one of only two places in northwest Wyoming where elk are being fed outside traditional feedgrounds this winter. The second is in the Buffalo Valley northeast of Jackson.

In the Gros Ventre, wolves allegedly ran the elk herd off one of the feedgrounds and onto the Glenn Taylor ranch. Trying to keep the elk from the cattle feedlines proved nearly impossible, as did getting the elk to leave in the deep snow. Taylor worked with Game and Fish to bait the elk off the ranch and away from the cattle.

Game and Fish has gone back and forth with the state veterinarian's office in recent days, saying it would not report incidents of commingling, as Game and Fish would not serve as an arm of the Wyoming Livestock Board.

Dwayne Oldham, the state veterinarian, threatened to quarantine the ranch, a move cattlemen called "draconian." They said a quarantine when elk and cattle have commingled, but there is no evidence of brucellosis in the cattle herd, would set a dangerous precedent for other ranchers, and would escalate the battle over feedgrounds.

Oldham has said Wyoming must be able to demonstrate it is doing everything possible to defend against brucellosis to regain its brucellosis-free status.

NewsTracker

* Last we knew: Elk and cattle commingling on a Jackson-area ranch forced brucellosis testing.

* The latest: Both sides of the elk feedground debate point to the situation as supportive of their positions.

* What's next: If cattle test positive for brucellosis, the state could face another setback as it tries to regain brucellosis-free status.

Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.