By Billy Arnold
Jackson Hole Daily
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — About 15 years after federal officials completed a lengthy process determining how to manage two of the most charismatic species that winter on the National Elk Refuge, officials are back to the drawing board, revising the plan for a new era.

“One of the most important changes that needs to be assessed, because it can have a very serious, direct impact on elk, is the occurrence of CWD,” said refuge manager Frank Durbian.

Durbian is referring to the always-fatal neurological condition chronic wasting disease, first detected in the Jackson Elk Herd in 2020.

“That’s a pretty serious change,” he said.

Refuge managers are not yet outlining specific goals other than updating the 2007 Bison and Elk Management Plan with the best available science from the past 15 years, and in light of changes like the detection of chronic wasting disease in the 11,000-animal-strong Jackson herd. Asked about the refuge’s priorities, Durbian pointed to existing plans, which call for reducing elk’s reliance on supplemental feeding to mitigate the spread of chronic wasting disease. He also said officials are concerned about the loss of riparian habitat on the southern end of the 24,700-acre refuge.

But Durbian said public comment will guide any decision to change management practices.

“No decisions have been made,” Durbian said. “What we hope to do is come up with a suite of management actions that we would hope to take in the future that will continue to maintain and sustain a healthy, viable Jackson Elk Herd.”

This week, refuge officials will host meetings — one in Jackson on Monday, one in Pinedale on Tuesday, and one online Wednesday — to solicit comments on the first phase of revising the 2007 Bison and Elk Management Plan.  

The 2007 Bison and Elk Management Plan revision is being evaluated through the National Environmental Policy Act, and managers intend to prepare a new environmental impact statement — the highest level of review — outlining their decisions.

They are currently “scoping” a draft environmental impact statement. Public comment will be taken on “scoping” through Aug. 31.

The 2007 bison and elk plan established target populations for wintering elk (5,000 animals) and bison (500). It also directed refuge officials to develop a plan with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to wean elk off feed, hoping to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Animals that contract the disease lose weight, drool, stumble around like zombies and, eventually, die. There is no known cure for the disease, and local researchers recently predicted that when 7% of elk in the Jackson herd are infected, populations will decline — even without hunting female elk. Prevalence is currently thought to be less than 1%, and wildlife managers want to keep the disease at bay for as long as possible.

The plan for weaning elk off human feed, known as the “step down plan,” was outlined in 2019.

It expires in 2024.

In general, it calls for starting feeding later and ending it earlier, hoping to keep the Jackson Elk Herd at 11,000 animals while dropping the number of elk wintering on the refuge to 5,000. In the last few winters, there have been closer to 7,500 elk on the refuge.

Durbian said what the department has learned from the first four years of implementing the plan will be incorporated into the new Bison and Elk Management Plan. One of the main things officials have learned is that reducing wintering elk numbers to 5,000 is going to be very difficult.

“What we’re learning is that’s quite challenging,” Durbian said.

Public comments can be submitted online at TinyURL.com/bempcomment.

They can also be sent via snail mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-NWRS-2023-0062, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, asks people who send comments via mail to specify that comments are about the Bison and Elk Management Plan update.