JACKSON, Wyo. -- Conservation groups are doubling down on efforts to get federal agencies to stop controversial winter feeding of elk at the Alkali Creek feedground in the Gros Ventre drainage, Dell Creek feedground in Sublette County and Forest Park feedground in Lincoln County.

Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, says chronic wasting disease surrounds all three operations, and she hopes the courts will put a stop to a practice she believes puts entire herds at risk.

"Once a disease like chronic wasting disease gets into these feedgrounds, the chance of spread just increases exponentially when you have high densities of elk in one location," she stresses.

A coalition of wildlife advocacy groups filed a lawsuit this week charging the U.S, Forest Service of continuing to grant feeding permits without adequate environmental analysis, a move ordered by the U.S. District Court of Wyoming in 2018.

Supporters of the practice, including livestock producers and hunters, argue that feedlots keep elk away from livestock and herd numbers high.

Combs notes that Wyoming's iconic game could take a serious long-term hit if chronic wasting disease, which is fatal, sweeps through herds. She says there are alternatives to feedlots to prevent encounters with livestock, such as fencing around hay stores or keeping elk away from properties.

"There are other ways that we can be innovative and creative in solving this problem," she stresses. "Wyoming is one of the only states where you are not responsible for fencing livestock."

Combs points to analysis by non-governmental organizations and state agencies showing there is plenty of natural food to sustain thousands of elk and other big game over the winter in their native ranges.

The lawsuit also alleges that elk feeding at Dell Creek and Forest Park by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is being conducted without appropriate permits, which expired nearly four years ago.


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June is National Pollinator Month and a local agricultural group which aims to empower women in conservation is bringing awareness to how prairie restoration can aid the declining population of bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

Through its Wisconsin Women in Conservation program, the Michael Fields Agriculture Institute is showing how reintroducing native plant species, among other practices, can reestablish endangered habitats supporting an entire ecosystem.

Christine Johnson, farmer education coordinator at the institute, said the current focus of pollinating lands and communities is intentional for many reasons.

"Besides being a place of empowerment for women in this space, which has traditionally been male-led and focused, we are also reminding folks that conservation is a practice that should persist even as our resources are depleted," Johnson explained.

Johnson pointed out many people in their network want to do the work but lack resources. She added despite DEI and conservation guts to their programming, the institute will continue to host events throughout the year. One on Thursday for women in Wisconsin will focus on prairie restoration.

Wisconsin Women in Conservation connects women landowners and stewards to conservation initiatives through networking and education.

Sally Farrar, conservation coach for the program, often shares her experience of restoring 13 acres of prairie land using grant funds from the National Resource Conservation Service. She said the first couple of years were not successful but vividly remembers when things started to click for her.

"One summer, there were hundreds of monarchs, flocks of dragonflies, and the most rare and interesting insects I had ever imagined in my life, just such a variety of bees," Farrar recounted. "That is the sacred bond with the land."

Farrar stressed conservation is a land-management practice which takes time and may not always initially work. She acknowledged the process can feel unattainable but emphasized how everyone can play a role in nurturing community lands and addressing the declining wildlife populations, even if they do not own that land.

"I think it's an overwhelming thing to witness the collapse of some of the bird, insect and plant populations, but I think that we can all do something," Farrar added. "If you cannot steward land, please consider donating and volunteering."

Most gray wolves in the U.S. are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but not those in the Northern Rockies. A federal judge in Missoula will hear arguments Wednesday over the validity of the exception.

In the Northern Rockies, state wildlife agencies are in charge of managing wolf populations, even though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year determined some state regulations are "at odds with modern professional wildlife management."

Erik Molvar, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project, one of 10 plaintiffs in the case, said gray wolves have not received a "fair shake" under either the Biden or Trump administrations.

"We're hoping that having the court step in and really dive into the best available science and the facts of the matter will help get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service past its political impasse in blocking wolf protections," Molvar explained.

According to its 2024 analysis, the federal agency said gray wolves are "not at risk of extinction in the Western United States, now or in the foreseeable future." But Molvar countered wolf populations there are struggling and genetic diversity is taking a hit.

The plaintiffs argued human-caused wolf mortalities through legal practices, including hunting, trapping, baiting and even hitting wolves with vehicles, were not adequately reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in last year's decision. Molvar added the agency failed to use the best available science in population estimate methodologies.

"We are hoping the judge will highlight the fact that the aggressive wolf-killing policies are so extreme that they cannot be relied upon as a conservation framework for rare species, like wolves," Molvar emphasized.

He added the presiding judge has decided wolf cases before and acknowledged deliberations may take months.

In the last few weeks of the Oregon Legislative Session, wildlife advocates say the state has an opportunity to make needed progress in conservation efforts with three bills still in play.

The 1% for Wildlife bill would protect more than 300 imperiled species by funding the State Wildlife Action Plan, which is a federally-mandated blueprint for conserving fish and other wildlife. The bill would fund the plan by raising the state Transient Lodging Tax by 1%, up to 2.5%.

Sristi Kamal, deputy director of the Western Environmental Law Center, said the change makes sense, as much of Oregon tourism revolves around outdoor recreation.

"Oregon has one of the lowest state TLT in the whole country and we are a natural resource-rich state," Kamal pointed out. "So to not invest back into the resource seems very shortsighted for us."

Another bill would provide landowners nonlethal tools to manage beavers. A third would fund three new state wildlife coexistence biologist positions, as well as grants for wildlife rehabilitation centers. All three bills are currently in committee.

People in the tourism industry said it would be a blow to business to increase the Transient Lodging Tax but Kamal points to research showing consumers make choices about what to purchase based on the cost more so than the added tax.

"Is a $2 dollar increase in a $200 dollar room at the Oregon coast going to change a person's mind on whether they're going to come to Oregon or not?" Kamal asked.

Kamal added the only money going toward the State Wildlife Action Plan, which is implemented by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, currently comes from the federal government. She said since such funding will likely be cut by the Trump Administration, the plan is in dire need of state support.


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