JACKSON, Wyo. -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is reconsidering how it manages the state's winter elk-feeding grounds, in part to mitigate the risk of infectious diseases, and the agency is looking for public input to develop a long-term plan.

Mark Gocke, public information specialist for the agency's Jackson region, said it's important to address the threats of chronic wasting disease at feeding grounds, where large numbers of animals congregate in close quarters.

"It has been spreading across the state, and so we want to plan for that," Gocke explained. "As it is always fatal for the animals that get chronic wasting disease, which means it could potentially be population-limiting."

Gocke noted there are currently no cases of chronic wasting disease on the state's 22 winter feeding grounds, but mule deer and whitetail deer populations have seen major outbreaks in southeastern Wyoming and the disease is spreading westward.

Feedgrounds were first introduced in 1929 to keep elk away from food intended for livestock, and proponents say they help keep elk numbers strong after the loss of historic habitat to development.

Comments can be added at the agency's website through Jan. 8.

Connie Wilbert, director of the Sierra Club's Wyoming chapter, said the state's iconic big game could take a serious long-term hit if chronic wasting disease, which can infect elk, deer and moose, sweeps through herds.

She observed fencing around hay stores and other tactics are effective at preventing elk encounters with livestock, and argued artificially drawing large numbers of elk to be in close proximity each winter poses a much bigger risk.

"And they don't leave, for the whole time they're there," Wilbert contended. "They are crowded together, they are standing there, they are lying there right next to each other, and that is a classic setup for quick disease transmission."

Wilbert added elk populations don't need feedlots to remain strong because there still is enough available habitat with ample winter food sources.

Game and Fish could tap a working group after the initial public comment period to create a long-term management plan that includes recommendations for whether to phase out, or continue, the winter feeding program.

The final plan would need to be approved by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission.

The U.S. Interior Department has invested $5 million in reintroducing bison to Native American Tribal lands across the country. Montana's iconic Yellowstone buffalo are playing a big part.

As part of the Biden administration's "America the Beautiful" initiative, the money will support Tribal-led efforts to bolster bison conservation efforts - and to help return bison to their ancestral roots in Indigenous areas across the country.

Chamois Andersen - senior field representative for Defenders of Wildlife's Rockies and Plains program - said the animals being reintroduced contain DNA from the iconic Yellowstone bison, the buffalo that originally roamed the Plains.

"These are the descendants of those animals - really, the wildest of the wild," said Andersen. "These animals tend to have big heads. They can withstand cold winters - selecting a mate, and how they forage in large herds and migrate. So, having this be sort of the source population, Yellowstone bison, for tribes is really helpful."

The Bison Conservation Transfer Program and Defenders of Wildlife have partnered with Yellowstone National Park, Fort Peck Tribes, and InterTribal Buffalo Council on the relocation of 284 bison on Tribal lands in Plains states - but also as far north as Alaska, where pilots flew four bison to relocate in a project known as "Operation Buffalo Wings."

Beyond the ecological and environmental impacts of restoring bison to grasslands and Plains, Andersen said there are important cultural and ceremonial reasons for Indigenous people to have bison reintroduced to tribal lands, too - especially for elders.

"For them to bring back their buffalo on their land and have them utilize these animals as a wildlife resource," said Andersen, "for their ceremony, for their songs, for the elders to provide that oral history. You know, it's been more than a hundred years since our Native nations have had buffalo on the ground."

While the $5 million is critical to the bison reintroduction program, it is part of a larger, $25 million measure introduced by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to do even more. That legislation is pending in Congress.

A new partnership between the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the group Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) aims to improve migration corridors and other critical habitat for Wyoming's iconic big game species.

Brittany Parker - habitat stewardship coordinator with BHA - said a big emphasis of their work will be removing or modifying outdated fencing on public lands, to help animals get under or over barriers and access food.

"Every two miles of fencing results in one big game mortality," said Parker. "So, that's pretty significant, considering that there is enough fencing in the American West to circle the equator 24 times."

The $2.5 million BHA grant is part of the BLM's investment of $28 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for six large-scale partnerships.

The agency is working with national organizations, states, and the Navajo Nation to support restoration and conservation on public lands.

On one project, BHA will collaborate with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation to adopt and manage several miles of lay-down fencing on BLM land.

Parker explained that this type of fencing is designed to maintain grazing livestock during certain months of the year, but can be adjusted when cattle move on to create easier access for wildlife.

"So we would come in, lay that fencing down," said Parker, "and then open all of that pasture space and that winter habitat up for mule deer, pronghorn and elk."

The IRA funding aims to advance the Biden administration's America the Beautiful initiative, which supports locally led conservation efforts across the nation to protect and restore 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

Parker said she believes the new funds will help preserve hunting and fishing for future generations.

"Migration corridor restoration work is extremely important to ensure the long-lasting survivability and legacy of these big game animals," said Parker, "the ones that we love to see as we're driving down highways or out hiking around in the woods."




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Opponents of a plan to allow hunters to kill more black bears in New Mexico over the next four years say escalating climate-change threats faced by wildlife are not being considered.

The state's Department of Game and Fish took public comments on the proposal last week.

Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, said even though the increased number of bear kills is small, none of the density studies have been peer-approved or published. She noted fires have ravaged wildlife in recent years, while temperatures across the state continue to rise.

"How does this alter populations? The current proposals don't even consider it," Ray contended. "Instead, they expand hunting for bears into the heat of summer in two southern bear zones, and increase the bear kill quota in the Gila, where so much as burned down in recent years. These animals need a break."

The New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association maintains hunting is needed to control the number of predators and reduce conflicts with people. The Commission is scheduled to make a decision at its October meeting. In 2022, the largest forest fire in the state's history burned more than 341,000 acres and destroyed 220 structures.

Seasonal hunting limits for bears would be bumped up in several areas of the state, raising the total kills allowed to 864 from the current 804.

John Crenshaw, former chief of the Public Information and Outreach Division for the Texas Department of Game and Fish and member of the state's Wildlife Federation, told commissioners he supports the plan.

"We urge you to hold your ground," Crenshaw emphasized. "The department's professionals presented you with a conservative, biologically sound rule to govern bear and cougar hunting over the next four years. We strongly urge you to pass this rule as presented."

Thomas Solomon, a resident of Bernalillo County, shared a story about a recent bear break-in at his house east of Albuquerque. Solomon said the bear tore up his kitchen trying to get to bird feeders he had brought in overnight.

"Despite that, I harbor no ill will toward this bear or other apex predators," Solomon stated. "I live in their ecosystem. I don't think that we should increase the bear-cougar killing quotas, given all the other things that we are doing to harm their environment."

The proposal would keep cougar hunting limits the same in all but one management zone, where it would drop by 17 kills, reducing the yearly limit to 563.