I haven't posted about this topic for a while, but this reporting in WyoFile is newsworthy.
A newly published study suggests that arrival of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will likely cause steep declines in the vast numbers of elk that have occupied the valley and surrounding public lands for the past century. This study by a collaboration of federal and university scientists was conducted to support a planning process that will prescribe future management direction of the National Elk Refuge, a 25,000-acre sanctuary where 7,000 to 8,000 elk gather and are fed alfalfa hay by mechanized equipment each winter. Because the feeding program artificially crowds the elk, they are more susceptible to the spread and maintenance of transmissible diseases.
CWD is a 100% fatal disease of deer, moose, and elk that has relentlessly spread across the US and Canada. Wherever it takes hold, its prevalence in host populations amplifies. Now it's on the cusp of reaching Jackson Hole's world-class elk herd. When it does, the study's authors predict CWD will increase in prevalence during the winter-feeding season. Among the management alternatives that the Refuge staff are considering is to continue the status quo of feeding the elk. Disease ecologist Paul Cross, one of the study's authors, noted that "Continued feeding is not the same as the status quo" because feeding in the presence of CWD will precipitate dwindling numbers of elk. Find the full published study here.