LANDER - The official policy of U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is that brucellosis should be eradicated, not simply controlled in the United States.

Judging from discussion during a meeting here last week, that objective could create even further strain between the federal government and the state of Wyoming over the controversial subject of managing brucellosis-infected bison and elk in northwest Wyoming.

The greater Yellowstone area constitutes the sole remaining reservoir of brucellosis-infected animals in the country.

APHIS veterinarian Bret Combs was asked whether brucellosis could be eradicated without treating wildlife like livestock. Clearly uncomfortable with the question, Combs said that was a policy decision for others - and at a higher pay grade. He did explain that historically, brucellosis has been eradicated elsewhere only through capturing animals, testing them for the disease and slaughtering those that test positive.

"You find infected animals, and you remove them," he said.

"Vaccination is not an eradication technique," he said, explaining that it is a control approach that buys time until a test-and-slaughter program can be implemented.

Combs said brucellosis could be eradicated by widespread dispersal of elk, which would allow the disease to "burn out" naturally, without reinfection. That approach, however, would not be feasible, he said, because the state and federal governments can't remove all people from western Wyoming so that elk can be widely dispersed.

Combs' associate, Yellowstone Brucellosis Coordinator Arnold Gertonson of Fort Collins, Colo., also said national policy is the eradication of brucellosis. To that end, Gertonson said APHIS and USDA's Veterinary Services will need wider authority over wildlife - something under development in a new "memorandum of understanding" that should be published in the Federal Register by November.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Terry Cleveland asked if the memorandum would apply to wildlife on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land, in addition to national parks.

"Yes," Gertonson responded. "Unless Congress says otherwise."

Wyoming's position - and historically, that of the federal land management agencies - is that wildlife on federal lands in Wyoming belong to the state and the animals' management is under its jurisdiction.

Brucellosis is a bacterial-based disease that can cause abortions in cattle, elk and bison. Wyoming lost its brucellosis-free status in November 2003 after a cattle herd next to the Game and Fish Department's Muddy Creek elk feedground near Pinedale was discovered to be infected with the disease.

The state is seeking reinstatement of that status, which would ease burdensome testing requirements for Wyoming cattle producers.

Teton County rancher Matt Mead worried that hypothetically, APHIS could deny Wyoming's brucellosis-free status if APHIS deemed the state's efforts "inadequate."

"Wouldn't that give APHIS carte blanche (authority over Wyoming)?" Mead asked.

Gertonson said there will be congressional oversight.

"You have more faith in Congress than I do," Mead responded.

Donal O'Toole, director of the Wyoming veterinary lab, said, "this is a major power grab by USDA - power without responsibility. Here we have a disease where the state agency spends $5,000 per animal (in an experimental test-and-slaughter program). Is there a willingness by USDA to pay, versus calling the shots?"

"This scares the hell out of me," said John Etchepare, director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. He warned that if APHIS can exert authority over a wildlife disease that affects livestock, it can do the very opposite as well.

"This can be flipped," he said.

Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner Bill Williams asked whether after fighting brucellosis for seven decades in Wyoming, the federal government considers it an emergency disease.

"Yes," Gertonson responded.

"Why can't APHIS move into a control effort mode until it is better equipped for eradication, which is not technically feasible right now?" Williams asked. He sarcastically suggested that eradication would require bringing in the Air Force to strafe wildlife or have livestock removed from western Wyoming.

Gertonson repeated that APHIS believes the disease can be eradicated.

When Gertonson was accused of holding Wyoming's brucellosis-free status hostage, unless Wyoming does what APHIS wants, Gertonson said that was an unfair charge.