JACKSON - It's worth revisiting the idea of eradicating brucellosis, a cattle industry leader said Wednesday, but there are too many unknowns to make it a compelling idea.

Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, questioned whether a cattle herd with an infected animal could remain isolated so as not to spread the disease.

"It doesn't hurt to have all options on the table for discussion, but it raises a lot of unanswered questions," Magagna said. "How is the marketplace going to view it? We all move cattle out of the area. It could create a distrust against Wyoming cattle, or at least cattle from northwest Wyoming."

Two Jackson ranchers, Kelly Lockhart and Brad Mead, suggested rethinking the war against brucellosis in a talk Tuesday sponsored by the Jackson Hole Land Trust.

Lockhart, who destroyed a herd two years ago after finding infected animals, said such action against a cattle herd testing positive for brucellosis is severe.

"What would happen if when an elk gave a cow the disease, we simply eliminated that cow from the herd and just kept on ranching?" he said.

Mead said the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has been trying to eradicate brucellosis in cattle herds since the 1930s - to the tune of about $3 billion. Then, the disease affected about 124,000 herds. Now it affects fewer than 10.

That history, Mead said, may be the problem, as APHIS doesn't want to give up the fight now.

Bret Combs, APHIS area veterinarian in charge in Cheyenne, flatly denied the agency would consider revisiting the fight against brucellosis.

"APHIS is still firmly committed to eradicating brucellosis from the United States," Combs said, reiterating some of Mead's cited figures. "We're committed to that goal. We have no plans to back down from that. We're going to continue forward with the eradication, and that means, eventually like we're doing, trying to address these wildlife issues."

Mead also said the brucellosis battle is being waged on a national scale, as APHIS and the Department of Interior disagree on how to manage for the disease. Much of the controversy has centered on elk feedgrounds, as disease transmission increases when animals are in close proximity. Ranchers have balked at the idea of closing feedgrounds, saying it would send elk onto ranches in search of food and increase brucellosis risk for cattle. Conservation groups and others say reducing elk on feed would spread the animals out and lower the brucellosis infection rates.

Brucellosis still exists in pockets in northwest Wyoming, Idaho and Texas. Vaccines for cattle are only about 60 percent effective, Combs said, and some animals are "overwhelmed" with the bacteria.

Open spaces

Loss of open spaces and the brucellosis problem are linked, Lockhart said.

Cattle are part of the landscape in Jackson Hole, and people like to see that type of work on the land, he said. If brucellosis continues to be a problem, many ranches will cease operations. Some may move to steer operations rather than cow-calf ranches, he said.

"I think in a lot of these issues, we lose track of what the land in this valley, particularly on the valley floor, has been used for," he said. "Since it's been settled, it's been a cow-calf operation."

Those operators have a vested interest in ranching because it's a yearlong, year-after-year project.

"If we don't do something (about brucellosis), my fear is there will be less cows and less calves in Jackson Hole. I fear for the land, for the community, for the producers," he said.

What happens in Teton County sometimes spills into other counties, and ranchers there may follow suit, he said. Once ranching operations cease, more land may be opened to development.

Wyoming lost its brucellosis-free status in 2004 and has petitioned to get it back. When brucellosis is first discovered, APHIS recommends the cattle herd be destroyed, although it is the rancher's choice.

When a second herd becomes infected, depopulation is mandatory, and a state loses its brucellosis-free status. That means cattle have to be tested before being exported, a cost shouldered mainly by ranchers.

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