The suit claims that artificial winter feedings are detrimental to elk and their habitat, violating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s own mandate. In the farm-like conditions of the refuge, disease can spread quickly through the herds. Brucellosis, chronic wasting disease, scabies and hoof rot are all diseases of concern for the estimated 7,500 elk that congregate on feed lines each winter.
According to the Defenders of Wildlife, the most ominous possibility is the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease, a condition similar to mad cow disease that affects the central nervous system and is spread by prions – an extremely stable agent that can remain viable in the soil for years. CWD has already been found as close as Thermopolis, about 70 miles to the east.
"Basically we've got way too many animals on too small an area for too long a time," said Barry Reiswig, a retired National Elk Refuge manager. "They're way over the Elk Refuge's carrying capacity."
The agency's current plan acknowledges the potent disease risk that accompanies high concentrations of animals like those found on the Elk Refuge in winter, and that the best way to reduce the threat and promote healthy populations of bison and elk is to phase out the annual winter feeding. Yet the plan takes no action to address the threats to the refuge and the elk that live there.
Plaintiffs in the action are Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, Wyoming Outdoor Council and the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Earthjustice is representing the groups in the lawsuit.
Critics of the suit point out that the elk’s historic winter feed grounds in the valley are now occupied by people, that feeding has gone on for more than a century, and that elk are not very susceptible to CWD.
Officials at the National Elk Refuge were unable to comment on the pending litigation.
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