The Missouri Department of Conservation wants public input on changes to its plan to manage Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), among white-tailed deer.

CWD is a fatal and contagious disease affecting members of the deer family, with no known treatment or cure. It was first detected in north central Missouri in 2010.

Jason Isabelle, cervid program manager for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said since then, it has spread to other parts of the state. He explained the plan calls for continued disease surveillance across the state, as well as making sure there are enough opportunities for hunters to get their deer samples tested.

"Deer are a cherished natural resource of the state and vital to the economy," Isabelle contended. "We have nearly half a million deer hunters in the state and lots of other folks that just enjoy the resource. So, there's a lot at stake here."

Other aspects of the plan include research, communication and management, including carcass transport
regulations, and giving hunters more opportunities to harvest deer. The public comment period on Missouri's plan runs through August 8.

Mike Leahy, director of wildlife, hunting and fishing policy for the National Wildlife Federation, said there is an important bill before Congress to use federal funds to tackle the issue. It has passed the House and is now before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

"The CWD Research and Management Act provides funding for states and tribes to research and respond to the threat of CWD," Leahy outlined. "Addressing the transmission, and detection and suppression, of the disease as well as applied research into management practices."

He added it includes a rapid-response fund for controlling outbreaks as quickly as possible. Current research shows CWD does not pose a health risk to humans, although scientists still recommend against consuming meat from infected animals.

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."

More than 300 elk, deer, moose and other large animals are hit and killed on Teton County Roads each year.

Wildlife Highways in Teton County is a new audio listening tour which was recently launched to alert drivers to the risks of collisions. The app taps data collected by scientists, who have been tracking wildlife using GPS collars to identify where wildlife cross roads and highways.

Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said because many collisions go unreported, the actual number is likely much higher.

"We kind of know where those areas are," Combs pointed out. "As you're traveling throughout the county, it prompts people to slow down in those corridors where we know animals are traveling, so that hopefully we're reducing rates of vehicle and wildlife collisions."

The audio tour is available for free on the TravelStorysGPS platform, and offers lively background to those yellow signs and slower speed limits on county roads. Combs said the goal is to share the magic of the area's incredible landscape and its many wild residents to visitors and locals alike who may not realize there are hotspots where wildlife are found at different times of the day and year.

Statewide, more than 7,000 animals are lost each year to wildlife-vehicle collisions. The total cost of wildlife-vehicle collisions is estimated to be $55 million per year, and Combs noted collisions also come at a high price for drivers.

"People are also injured," Combs emphasized. "If we think about the cost to insurance companies and to individuals, if you're hitting something like an elk or a moose, that's going to pretty much total your vehicle."

The audio tour was written by local resident and journalist Brigid Mander, who discovered after moving from the big city, safe driving inside a thriving ecosystem is far from an innate skill. Combs added the tour paints a picture of how wildlife cross roads to access important habitat.

"This is just one more tool that we can use to hopefully reduce the impact that people are having on wildlife," Combs explained. "And making sure that we're keeping these migration corridors open so that wildlife can continue to move across the landscape."

Local leaders are pressing Congress to create a new wildlife refuge in Riverside County.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., recently introduced the Western Riverside National Wildlife Refuge Act, and Rep. Ken Calvert, D-Calif., introduced the House version this spring.

Aaron Hake deputy executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, which manages the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority, explained the next steps.

"The exact location of the refuge is not yet defined," Hake pointed out. "If these bills pass, it will then be up to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide where they would like to acquire land to establish the refuge."

The refuge would provide more recreation opportunities for the densely populated Inland Empire, and would be an important link in the wildlife corridors allowing many species room to roam.

Hake noted Riverside County is home to 146 species covered in the multiple-species habitat conservation plan.

"They range from the Golden Eagle, the burrowing owl, rare plants that only occur here and nowhere else on the planet," Hake outlined. "We have the Western Pond Turtle, mountain lions, the Quino checkerspot butterfly, and those are just a few."

Some of the land is already part of the Cleveland and San Bernardino national forests, but some acreage would be purchased from private owners and thus would be newly protected from development.