I appreciate the time and effort Karen Mockler put
into writing the article on Wyoming’s feedgrounds (HCN,
4/29/02: Are Wyoming’s feedgrounds a hotbed of disease?) as well as
the editing that was done to consolidate all the information on
this complicated issue. Unfortunately, in that process, some
of the essence of the interview was lost. First, the Wyoming
Outdoor Council (WOC) has taken the lead on the Restoring Wild
Patterns (RWP) plan in cooperation with the Wyoming Wildlife
Federation for the past two years, but in the second paragraph of
the article, WOC was omitted from the list of four groups listed
that support the program. Most notably, many of the issues
surrounding feedgrounds and disease were lost in the article.
The headline claimed that a phaseout of
feedgrounds “could cause elk herds to plummet.” In
no way does RWP propose or expect a drastic reduction of elk
numbers. In fact, as I stated in the interview, most free-ranging
elk herds in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem actually exceed herd
objectives set by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WYGFD). In
addition, habitat improvement projects on North Piney/Bench Corral
and the East Fork of the Wind River have demonstrated that
when habitat is improved or made available, elk will use it and
re-establish traditional migration corridors to winter in
historical habitat.
The crux of the
problem can best be summarized by the fact that elk concentrated in
feedgrounds are a “recipe for disaster,” according to
the WYGFD’s own biologists. Density-dependent diseases such
as chronic wasting disease, tuberculosis, brucellosis and foot and
mouth disease have already accounted for the death of tens of
thousands of elk, deer and bison throughout the West. In
accomplishing RWP’s goals of habitat improvement and
feedground phase-out, elk density will be reduced and herds
dispersed onto available habitat, reducing the risk of disease
transmission and damage to aspen and other native vegetation
communities.
It’s ironic that
WYGFD rightly prohibits game farms in Wyoming and yet defends
feedgrounds. The reason for banning game farms is the same as the
rationale for phasing out feedgrounds: both prevent devastating
density-dependent diseases like chronic wasting disease from
spreading through concentrated herds.
I urge
you to publish a follow-up article on Wyoming’s feedgrounds
that will provide HCN readers with a clearer
explanation of this serious wildlife problem as well as the
solutions offered by the RWP plan. Restoring Wild Patterns may be
our last chance to assure a place for wild, free-ranging wildlife
in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Meredith Taylor
Dubois,
Wyoming
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Feedlots story falls short.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
