JACKSON, Wyo. -- The first case of chronic wasting disease in elk reported by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has reopened debate on current wildlife management programs.

Kristin Combs, executive director for Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said she hopes the public will weigh in on the agency's assessment of winter elk feed grounds, seen as potential super-spreader sites.

She added keeping wolf populations at bare minimums is counter-productive because the apex predators are a free source of disease control if allowed to do their job.

"Wolves are able to take out these sick and weak animals long before humans can see symptoms," Combs explained. "And yet we are still killing off wolves when they could be a big solution."

Combs noted out of a total wolf population of 300 in Wyoming, 54 were killed this year in trophy hunting season, and up to 20 were killed in livestock conflicts.

Wyoming has a long tradition of eradicating wolves. Hunters say they don't want wolves taking elk and other game, and ranchers don't want wolves eating into their bottom lines.

Combs contended while loss of livestock can be significant for individual ranchers, there are proven ways to prevent encounters with wolves. She argued there is no evidence wolves are serious competition for hunters, pointing to biologist reports that wolves in Yellowstone, where hunting is not allowed, have kept elk herds healthy.

"Wolves are not going to be a significant factor in reducing the populations," Combs asserted. "Since wolves have been reintroduced, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have had bumper hunting years, and their populations are still well above objectives."

Combs emphasized the first case of chronic wasting disease in elk should prompt a swift phase-out of winter feed grounds, where large numbers of elk congregate for months in close quarters.

Comments on the future of Game and Fish's 22 winter sites can be added at the agency's website, wgfd.wyo.gov through Jan. 8.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday to require Caltrans to integrate wildlife corridors into its plans as roads are built around the state.

Collisions between drivers and wildlife are rampant - with 44,000 reported between 2016 and 2020, and likely many more that go unreported, causing injuries, deaths and property damage.

Mari Galloway, California Program Manager for Wildlands Network in Sacramento, said animals need to be able to migrate freely.

"Especially mountain lions in Southern California, their inability to move is causing genetic abnormalities and potential local extinctions," said Galloway. "But also in eastern California, we have mule deer corridors, which are being severed by some of the major highways through there."

Wildlife crossings allow animals to search farther afield for mates, which research says supports genetic diversity.

Galloway added that the endangered desert tortoise and the California tiger salamander, in particular, should also now have a much better chance to survive and thrive.

Kim Delfino, president of the group Earth Advocacy in Sacramento, said Assembly Bill 2344 guarantees that Caltrans will now make wildlife corridors a priority.

"They're going to be planning for it," said Delfino. "They're going to be incorporating it into their projects. They're going to be upgrading their Highway Design Manual. And they're going to be identifying areas across the state that are connectivity hotspots that need to be addressed."

Seven mountain lions have been found dead on or near the highways of Southern California this year.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Pennsylvania has a strong commitment to urban agriculture and community gardening, and some groups in the state are working to get more colorful native plants into local gardens.

Victoria Miles-Chambliss, secretary/treasurer of Empowered Community Development Corporation, said one way they are addressing food insecurity is by planting produce at the Cecil Street Community Garden in a Philadelphia neighborhood. Attracting critical pollinators is one of the goals, in addition to boosting a garden's output.

"We're in the process of putting in fruit trees, like a pear tree," Miles-Chambliss pointed out. "We're putting in a peach tree. We're planting strawberries. We're going to be planting a lot of different native plants so that, of course, we can have the pollination situation going."

Miles-Chambliss pointed out the community-friendly pollinator garden is helping to solve blight in the community as well. She added it is accessible, and provides a safe place for neighbors to come together for community meetings and learn more about what the garden offers.

She emphasized it is important to bring together young people and seniors, so they can learn from each other and work on maintaining the garden.

"With so much that's going on, we want the young people to have somebody that they can go to, and talk to," Miles-Chambliss stressed. "And in that community garden, it would make it so much easier."

Lamar Gore, refuge manager of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, is working with the Cecil Street Garden through its urban program, which provides resources to help maintain the garden and build relationships with the community.

He said they want to make sure the concerns of Black and Brown residents are being heard.

"It's an environmental justice community," Gore explained. "And the plan here at Heinz is to serve environmental justice communities, Black and Brown communities, that have been ignored and left out of the conversation. I want this wildlife refuge to be a part of the community."

Gore confirmed they are helping increase healthy food access by planting more fruit, vegetables and native plants for pollinators. He noted the development of the green space has educational benefits, as they teach environmental education at elementary schools, and create jobs, by hiring local high school students to work in the garden.

Some 18 recent graduates of an urban pollinator habitat-restoration program in Boulder got grants from the Endangered Species Coalition to put more native flowering plants in the ground.

Colorado's native pollinators can only travel a few hundred feet before they need to find a place to land and refuel - with water, nectar and pollen.

City of Boulder urban biodiversity program founder and Cool Boulder lead Andrea Montoya said graduates also are trained to convince their friends and neighbors to join a growing national movement to create more pollinator pathways.

"But when you multiply that - by having yard after yard connected to community spaces, connected to another yard," said Montoya, "and you've built this chain of places that pollinators can visit. That is the key to their survival."

Bees and other pollinators are considered keystone species for entire ecosystems, and contribute to the direct production of up to $577 billion worth of food every year. Pollinator populations are in decline, largely due to loss of habitat to humans, the use of insecticides, and climate change.

Montoya said she sees Colorado's urban lawns, which add zero nutrient value to pollinators, as prime targets for habitat restoration.

Dillon Hanson-Ahumada is the Southern Rockies field representative for the Endangered Species Coalition. He said anyone can get involved in restoring pollinator habitat, and points to resources available at 'endangered.org/pollinator-protectors.'

"Every pollinator plant counts," said Hanson-Ahumada. "Every small habitat area counts. You don't have to have acres and acres. If anything it can be a couple of plants that you plant on the side of your house."

Montoya developed the program curriculum for the climate initiative Cool Boulder. She said after she retired her lawnmower, and replaced grass with native plants, her water bill dropped by 75%.

She said native plants, pollinators, insects and microorganisms underground help maintain soil health - and can play a role in mitigating climate change.

"Native plants form a relationship below ground with native microorganisms that support these plants," said Montoya. "These plants are then able to sequester 150% more carbon than a non-native plant."