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Refuge manager blasts test-and-slaughter plan
Reiswig says he can't imagine worse strategy.
By Rebecca Huntington
National Elk Refuge Manager Barry Reiswig called a recommendation to test and slaughter brucellosis-infected elk "unethical" and destined to fail.
The Wyoming Brucellosis Coordination Team included test and slaughter in a long list of recommendations the group will forward to Gov. Dave Freudenthal in January. The 19-member team, appointed by the governor and charged with finding ways to minimize the spread of the disease, finalized the recommendations during a meeting Dec. 15 in Lander.
While Reiswig supports some of the team's recommendations, he condemned the test-and-slaughter option.
"I can't imagine a worse management strategy," Reiswig said Friday. "It's another Band-Aid solution that's not going to solve the problem."
The recommendation calls for starting a pilot program with the Pinedale elk herd to see if capturing, testing and slaughtering infected animals on a state-run feed ground would reduce brucellosis rates among the herd.
If the program succeeds in lowering exposure rates in Pinedale, the program would ultimately need to be expanded to all 23 elk feed grounds in northwestern Wyoming to be effective, according to coordination team experts.
That includes the Elk Refuge in Jackson. During a coordination team meeting in November, member Tom Thorne said: "You're never going to be able to quit until you've finally finished with the National Elk Refuge."
Moreover, Thorne predicted the Elk Refuge, which is run by the federal government, would have to cooperate.
"I think the Elk Refuge will be drug along," Thorne said.
But Elk Refuge Manager Reiswig made his opposition clear during a telephone interview last week. Reiswig said the state does not need to embark on a "ridiculously expensive" experiment in Pinedale to determine the program will fail.
"Do you have to drive a car off a cliff to realize you're going to be in a wreck when you hit the bottom?" he asked, referring to the pilot program.
Wyoming's 23 elk feed grounds perpetuate the disease brucellosis by concentrating animals in artificially high numbers. The disease is rarely detected in free-ranging herds.
Elk testing positive killed
Some coordination team experts have argued that a test-and-slaughter program would only be worth the political and economic costs if feed grounds were phased out once disease rates were lowered. Otherwise, feed grounds would create an ongoing risk that infection rates could spike in the future and reverse any benefits gained from test and slaughter.
Reiswig, meanwhile, deems it "unethical" to manage elk in a way that increases brucellosis and "then when they get the disease [to] turn around and kill them," he said.
For the pilot program in Pinedale, the coordination team has proposed building a 5-mile fence and 8-foot-tall corral to capture elk on a state-run feed ground where elk spend the winter.
Once captured, elk would be run through a chute and tested for brucellosis.
Those testing positive for exposure the test does not confirm infection would go to slaughter. No more than 10 percent of the herd would be killed under the team's recommendation.
Reiswig predicted crews would need helicopters to successfully round up elk on the 25,000-acre Elk Refuge the largest elk feed ground in Wyoming if the test-and-slaughter program were expanded here. He called it "absurd" to chase a world-class wildlife herd at a time of year when animals are most vulnerable to stress.
Reiswig questioned whether the public would continue to respect wildlife winter range closures if people see the Wyoming Game and Fish Department chasing, capturing, testing and slaughtering wildlife in winter.
Reiswig doubts public support
"If we expect the public not to harass animals, we need to abide by the same rules," Reiswig said. Already, the public sacrifices access to public lands in winter to protect wildlife from human disturbances ranging from snowmobiling to walking unleashed dogs. Refuge officials also restrict helicopter use, even for wildlife research purposes, in winter, he said.
"I can't imagine any wildlife enthusiast or sportsman supporting this thing," Reiswig said. "To me, it's that far off the charts."
The slaughter would be aimed at young female elk, which are most likely to transmit the disease. Brucellosis infects elk, bison and cattle and causes them to abort their first pregnancy. The disease is then transmitted through aborted tissues.
Killing young female elk could have unintended consequences to a herd's population dynamics, Reiswig said. "People need to realize when you kill one young cow, you're killing seven elk," he said, referring to potential offspring.
The disease can be costly to livestock operators and cause undulant fever in humans. Two cattle herds in Teton County were destroyed this year as part of a government program to eradicate the disease.
Those infected cattle herds, which officials suspect got the disease from feed-ground elk, show Wyoming's brucellosis management is not working, Reiswig said. The proposed test-and-slaughter program would only perpetuate the existing feed-ground management, which has failed to protect livestock from disease, he said.
Respond to this article by e-mailing [email protected]
Reiswig says he can't imagine worse strategy.
By Rebecca Huntington
National Elk Refuge Manager Barry Reiswig called a recommendation to test and slaughter brucellosis-infected elk "unethical" and destined to fail.
The Wyoming Brucellosis Coordination Team included test and slaughter in a long list of recommendations the group will forward to Gov. Dave Freudenthal in January. The 19-member team, appointed by the governor and charged with finding ways to minimize the spread of the disease, finalized the recommendations during a meeting Dec. 15 in Lander.
While Reiswig supports some of the team's recommendations, he condemned the test-and-slaughter option.
"I can't imagine a worse management strategy," Reiswig said Friday. "It's another Band-Aid solution that's not going to solve the problem."
The recommendation calls for starting a pilot program with the Pinedale elk herd to see if capturing, testing and slaughtering infected animals on a state-run feed ground would reduce brucellosis rates among the herd.
If the program succeeds in lowering exposure rates in Pinedale, the program would ultimately need to be expanded to all 23 elk feed grounds in northwestern Wyoming to be effective, according to coordination team experts.
That includes the Elk Refuge in Jackson. During a coordination team meeting in November, member Tom Thorne said: "You're never going to be able to quit until you've finally finished with the National Elk Refuge."
Moreover, Thorne predicted the Elk Refuge, which is run by the federal government, would have to cooperate.
"I think the Elk Refuge will be drug along," Thorne said.
But Elk Refuge Manager Reiswig made his opposition clear during a telephone interview last week. Reiswig said the state does not need to embark on a "ridiculously expensive" experiment in Pinedale to determine the program will fail.
"Do you have to drive a car off a cliff to realize you're going to be in a wreck when you hit the bottom?" he asked, referring to the pilot program.
Wyoming's 23 elk feed grounds perpetuate the disease brucellosis by concentrating animals in artificially high numbers. The disease is rarely detected in free-ranging herds.
Elk testing positive killed
Some coordination team experts have argued that a test-and-slaughter program would only be worth the political and economic costs if feed grounds were phased out once disease rates were lowered. Otherwise, feed grounds would create an ongoing risk that infection rates could spike in the future and reverse any benefits gained from test and slaughter.
Reiswig, meanwhile, deems it "unethical" to manage elk in a way that increases brucellosis and "then when they get the disease [to] turn around and kill them," he said.
For the pilot program in Pinedale, the coordination team has proposed building a 5-mile fence and 8-foot-tall corral to capture elk on a state-run feed ground where elk spend the winter.
Once captured, elk would be run through a chute and tested for brucellosis.
Those testing positive for exposure the test does not confirm infection would go to slaughter. No more than 10 percent of the herd would be killed under the team's recommendation.
Reiswig predicted crews would need helicopters to successfully round up elk on the 25,000-acre Elk Refuge the largest elk feed ground in Wyoming if the test-and-slaughter program were expanded here. He called it "absurd" to chase a world-class wildlife herd at a time of year when animals are most vulnerable to stress.
Reiswig questioned whether the public would continue to respect wildlife winter range closures if people see the Wyoming Game and Fish Department chasing, capturing, testing and slaughtering wildlife in winter.
Reiswig doubts public support
"If we expect the public not to harass animals, we need to abide by the same rules," Reiswig said. Already, the public sacrifices access to public lands in winter to protect wildlife from human disturbances ranging from snowmobiling to walking unleashed dogs. Refuge officials also restrict helicopter use, even for wildlife research purposes, in winter, he said.
"I can't imagine any wildlife enthusiast or sportsman supporting this thing," Reiswig said. "To me, it's that far off the charts."
The slaughter would be aimed at young female elk, which are most likely to transmit the disease. Brucellosis infects elk, bison and cattle and causes them to abort their first pregnancy. The disease is then transmitted through aborted tissues.
Killing young female elk could have unintended consequences to a herd's population dynamics, Reiswig said. "People need to realize when you kill one young cow, you're killing seven elk," he said, referring to potential offspring.
The disease can be costly to livestock operators and cause undulant fever in humans. Two cattle herds in Teton County were destroyed this year as part of a government program to eradicate the disease.
Those infected cattle herds, which officials suspect got the disease from feed-ground elk, show Wyoming's brucellosis management is not working, Reiswig said. The proposed test-and-slaughter program would only perpetuate the existing feed-ground management, which has failed to protect livestock from disease, he said.
Respond to this article by e-mailing [email protected]
