Wyoming should experiment with vaccinations, change management of livestock and wildlife, and implement a pilot program to test elk for brucellosis in response to problems with the disease in the state, according to a report from a state task force.

The long-awaited and controversial report was presented to Gov. Dave Freudenthal as the Legislature began meeting this week. The governor appointed the task force to develop recommendations on how to reduce brucellosis in both wildlife and livestock.

"My initial reaction to the recommendations is to note the obviously hard work undertaken by the task force members," Freudenthal said in a prepared statement. "I'll be reviewing the specific recommendations in depth, but I would first like to thank them for their time and effort."

Frank Galey, dean of the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and chairman of the task force, made the presentation.

The discovery of brucellosis last year in Wyoming cattle, south of Yellowstone National Park, triggered the loss of Wyoming's brucellosis-free status. The $980 million cattle industry is now absorbing costly testing expenses before any of Wyoming's 1.2 million cattle can leave for other states.

Because the infected cattle might have contracted the disease from infected elk, the task force has focused on elk feedgrounds as the probable source of the cattle's infection. Brucellosis is a contagious bacterial disease that can be spread among cattle, bison and elk and can cause abortions, infertility, reduced milk production and other problems.

"During our task force meetings, we realized that we had a lot of questions and not enough answers," Galey said. "This report basically recommends several experiments we hope will provide some needed answers."

Terry Cleveland, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, praised the process of the task force report. The group included academics, veterinarians, ranchers, outfitters and conservationists, and the process led to "general consensus on most topics," Cleveland said.

"We're trying to find a solution with minimal impact to wildlife and livestock, yet move away from the status quo," he said.

John Etchepere, director of the state Department of Agriculture, said the report had good recommendations but warned that unless federal agencies make a real commitment to the plan, "it'll all be for naught."

The agriculture community will be deeply involved with aggressive testing and vaccination efforts, registration of livestock traders and dealers with the Wyoming Livestock Board and yearly management planning meetings to mitigate commingling of livestock with wildlife, he said.

"We need Yellowstone National Park and the Forest Service to buy off on this plan," Etchepere said. "That hasn't happened yet. It won't work without them."

Some conservationists, meanwhile, essentially view the report as a mere extension of the status quo, with the heaviest burden placed on wildlife and not enough asked of the ranching community.

One of the more controversial aspects of the task force proposals is a five-year pilot project designed to reduce the presence of the disease within the Pinedale elk herd. The task force proposes construction of an 8-foot-tall, five-mile-long fence and a large corral in which elk can be herded, sorted and tested for the presence of brucellosis antibodies in blood samples. Infected younger elk cows would then be removed or slaughtered in an effort to reduce the presence of the disease within the herd.

"The people of Wyoming are not going to stand for a test-and-slaughter program, because it won't solve the problem," said Meredith Taylor of the Wyoming Outdoor Council. "As long as the feedgrounds operate, you cannot eradicate brucellosis. This is a huge waste of money and wildlife."

Feedgrounds

Wyoming has 22 state-run feedgrounds south of Yellowstone National Park, in addition to the federally operated National Elk Refuge outside of Jackson. Brucellosis is endemic in the elk herds that use the feedgrounds.

When the task force was asked to choose between keeping the feedgrounds open or closing them, the majority voted to keep them open, saying closing the feedgrounds was not recommended in the foreseeable future. Yet when the task force was asked to consider the gradual phase-out or merger of winter elk feedgrounds, the majority said it should be considered.

Galey explained that elk cows infected with the disease typically abort their first one or two conceptions, then develop a resistance to the disease that allows older cows to successfully give birth to healthy calves. For that reason, the test-and-remove pilot program would be focused on the young elk cows, because their aborted fetuses are the greatest source of future infections, he said.

Wildlife biologists want to have a 95 percent confidence interval in data showing a reduction of antibodies in the herd, with no more than a 10 percent reduction in herd population.

Conservation biologists counter that a single aborted fetus on a winter feedground, due to brucellosis, would reinfect the herd and negate any previous reductions of the disease. They maintain that feedgrounds simply reinfect elk herds over and over.

The only way to eliminate the disease, they say, is to eliminate feedgrounds and allow brucellosis to "burn itself out" in free-ranging elk that return to historic winter grounds through long-unused migration corridors.

Agricultural interests dispute whether migration corridors can be re-established or whether feedgrounds can be closed without huge conflicts with area ranchers and commingling between elk and cattle, triggering new brucellosis outbreaks in livestock.

One conservationist blasted the report for what it didn't say.

"The failure of the majority report to address the risk of chronic wasting disease on the feedgrounds is simply unconscionable," said Robert Hoskins of Crowheart. "A CWD epidemic is coming to the feedgrounds, and the report ignores that. I would call that negligence of the highest order."

Budget requests

Several budget requests emerged from the Wyoming Brucellosis Task Force report. The Wyoming Legislature is being asked to fund:

* $500,000 in veterinary services, plus an extra $750,000.

* $1 million for elk trap fence and corral for the Pinedale elk herd; drift fences to steer elk away from ranches and toward feedgrounds; and hiring of contract employees to develop best management action plans for the remaining six elk herds that frequent winter feedgrounds.

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What's in the report

Two main recommendations emerged from the governor's brucellosis task force:

* Management plans - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asked to develop brucellosis management plans for each elk herd that has winter feedgrounds, working with federal land managers, local ranchers, state and federal veterinarians. Potential modifications to each winter feedground would be considered.

* Research - Cooperation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control is needed to research ways to manage brucellosis in wildlife and livestock.

Objectives of the task force:

* Reclaim class-free brucellosis status for cattle, improve surveillance of the disease, and eliminate transmission of the disease between species.

* Develop an action plan of what to do in the event of a new outbreak of the disease in cattle.

* Address human health concerns.

* Reduce and eventually eliminate brucellosis in wildlife, specifically addressing winter elk feedgrounds. The report candidly acknowledged that this last topic "was the most difficult and contentious."

On the Internet:

Links to the 28 recommendations are posted on Gov. Dave Freudenthal's Web site, http://wyoming.gov/governor/governor_home.asp, and will also be posted on the task force's site, http://wyagric.state.wy.us/relatedinfo/govbrucecoordinati.htm. The report is 37 pages.