Eradication of brucellosis in bison, elk sought

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — When cattle in western Wyoming became infected with brucellosis two years ago, suspicion fell almost immediately on the area's diseased elk. It was a scenario ranchers feared would eventually happen, and it lent renewed urgency to the federal government's effort to eliminate brucellosis — once and for all — from the bison and elk herds that roam the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

State wildlife managers say they support the idea of eradication, but not at any price. And they question whether it's even possible — in the next few years or in their lifetimes — given the politics, emotion and biology surrounding into the issue.

"In theory, it's doable; in theory, about anything is doable," said Terry Kreeger, of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. "In practice, that's another question."

For much of the past decade, state and federal officials have focused on managing and containing brucellosis and the wildlife believed to carry it. They have hazed and killed bison for leaving Yellowstone National Park in winter and entering Montana, and officials have even begun vaccinating some bison and elk in the region against the disease that the wildlife have otherwise lived with for years.

But these efforts, among a patchwork of plans proposed or currently in place, haven't been aggressive enough for the livestock industry. Brucellosis remains prevalent in the wildlife — many of the bison in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks have it — and ranchers remain concerned about the possibility their cattle will pick up the disease, which can cause cows to abort.

"As long as that reservoir of brucellosis remains as strong as it is, it's just going to be a rotating game," said Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. "It's Wyoming now, but it could well be Montana or Idaho in the next year or so."

The federal government is asking the governors of the three states for a firm commitment to eliminate what's believed to be the last remaining stronghold of the disease in the country — in bison and elk living in and around Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

The pact sets no deadline — one chosen a decade ago, for 2010, isn't likely to be met — but it tries to focus the efforts of a long list of agencies on the same ultimate goal, said Teresa Howes, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

"We're close to eliminating it," she said, adding that her agency wasn't going to relent in efforts to finish the job. "We're not going to be irresponsible."