Connie Wilbert, connie.wilbert@sierraclub.org
Jackson, WY-- Today, the National Park Service and Wyoming Game and Fish Department reported that an elk tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Grand Teton National Park. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a rapidly-spreading wildlife epidemic that is killing elk, moose and deer herds across the country, particularly in western states. CWD is a neurological ailment that is always fatal and has the potential to wipe out entire herds of elk.
The confirmation of CWD in elk in Jackson Hole comes as the Wyoming Game and Fish Department just began a public collaborative effort to discuss the future management of elk feedgrounds in Wyoming.
In response to the news, Connie Wilbert, Chapter Director of Sierra Club Wyoming, released the following statement:
“It is horrifying to hear that chronic wasting disease has now infected elk in one of our nation’s most iconic national parks, literally right next to winter feedlots for elk including the National Elk Refuge and state-run feedlots. The impacts of this always-fatal disease when it starts rapidly spreading through elk herds on winter feedlots will devastate the entire Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, harming the biological integrity of Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks and the entire surrounding multi-state region.
“This news comes at the same time the state is asking residents to weigh in on their winter elk artificial feeding program. It is absolutely clear--and now more urgent than ever--that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department must immediately begin phasing out feedgrounds. These operations unnaturally pack elk together for months every winter and dangerously increase the likelihood of explosive spread of chronic wasting disease.
“There is no time to waste: we need to start phasing out elk feedlots now, before a chronic wasting disease epidemic decimates wildlife in northwestern Wyoming and the entire region.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.