News - Issues

Despite mortality rates averaging 25 percent — more than three-quarters of which is human caused — gray wolves are thriving in the Northern Rocky Mountains, according to a recently published tri-state survival analysis. With data from 711 radio-collared wolves, it is the largest study ever conducted on wolf survival.

“The purpose of this paper was to report on the condition of the wolves before delisting,” said Doug Smith, wolf biologist for Yellowstone National Park and lead author of the study. The work involved 14 top wolf authorities examining data up to 2004. The paper was published in the Journal of Wildlife Management.

“We acknowledge that a weakness in the paper is that the situation has changed since 2004,” Smith said, most notably Yellowstone’s wolf population had plunged to less than 100 wolves at the end of 2009, a 23 percent drop from 2008.
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The hide from the wolf Carl Lewis shot stretches 7 feet, 9 inches long, the back and ruff as black as a Montana midnight, easing along the legs and flanks to a color that Lewis likens to that of a blue roan horse. Lewis shot the big radio-collared alpha male on his ranch, high on the east side of the Big Hole Valley, last fall. "I really wanted to get a wolf this year," he says, "because we have to live around them, and I wanted to see a few less around our place." Lewis and his family saw wolves 22 different times on their ranch during the past summer, so he knew where to start hunting. "I went out that morning on a fresh snow, and saw no tracks at all. Got up to the top of the ridge, though, and there he was." Lewis shot the wolf from 400 yards with his .338, the rifle he normally uses for elk hunting. Three days later, his son Tanner got a wolf of his own.

Montana's first-ever wolf season was viewed with horror by many environmental groups, and by many people who have celebrated the charismatic predator's return to the Northern Rockies. The hunt was simply too much, too soon, they said; it would kill off the alpha males and females that are the primary breeders and break the slowly building matrix of genetic diversity that is key to the long-term health of the returning populations. They predicted that leaderless wolf packs would go after even more livestock, leading to more wolf-killing by the federal Wildlife Services. The wolves' positive effects on the ecosystem -- keeping coyote numbers in check, scattering elk that were overgrazing their winter ranges -- could be reversed.
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A guest column by Mel Frost, Information and Education Program Manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

For many residents in the Greater Yellowstone area, brucellosis is a familiar term. For many visitors to Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding national forests and beautiful valleys, they may hear about brucellosis for the first time during nature talks, at visitors’ centers, or during conversations with locals.

Brucellosis is a contagious disease caused by a group of bacteria known as Brucella. The disease affects domestic animals, wildlife, and people worldwide. In the United States, brucellosis is found primarily in domestic cattle (B. abortus) and swine (B. suis). The disease is also found in wild bison and elk (B. abortus) in the Greater Yellowstone area of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Brucellosis likely was first transmitted to elk and bison by cattle in the 19th century.

Although not common in the United States today, brucellosis can infect people and is known as Bang’s disease, undulant fever, Malta fever, or Mediterranean fever. People who work in certain occupations such as farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, and packing plant workers are more likely to become infected because they may come into direct contact with infected animals. Hunters are also at a small risk, although with proper precautions that risk is minimal. Worldwide, brucellosis is more common in countries that do not have standardized and effective public health and domestic animal health programs.

In cattle, bison, and elk, the Brucella bacteria are shed through reproductive tissues and fluids. This can occur during an abortion, stillborn-event, or live birth. The disease is transmitted by an animal ingesting the shed bacteria in these tissues or fluids.

In the field, elk and bison do not generally exhibit obvious signs of the disease, however, one primary symptom in bison, elk, and cattle is abortion. Other symptoms include retained placenta, reduced milk production, weak calves, lameness, swollen joints, swollen testicles, and reduced ability of females to become pregnant.

Brucellosis is an important disease to the livestock industry because of economic losses from reduced milk production, aborted or weak calves, infertility, and reduced breeding efficiency. Since 1934, the Cooperative Brucellosis Eradication Program has been in place with the goal of eradicating brucellosis from the United States. Free-roaming wildlife infected with a disease that the industry has spent much time and money eradicating has created challenges for livestock producers and concern among hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts.

In the Greater Yellowstone area, state and federal agencies continue to work cooperatively to reduce the risk of brucellosis transmission from wildlife to livestock. Bison are managed under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which has two main goals: maintain a wild, free-ranging bison population and address the risk of brucellosis transmission to protect the economic interest and viability of the Montana livestock industry. As for elk, following brucellosis outbreaks in cattle in 2007 and 2008, tests suggested the infections likely came from elk. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and Montana Department of Livestock are cooperating to determine the geographic scope of the disease in wildlife, complete wildlife and livestock risk assessments, and then determine if wildlife or livestock management practices need adjustment.

Brucellosis and all that it connotes is a controversial disease—as much political and social as it is biological. There are many contradictory perspectives and values, and long-term work continues to arrive at solutions that are satisfactory to all concerned.

Brucellosis - A guest column by Lane Adamson, Projects Director for the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group.

This fall there has been a flurry of meetings and newspaper space dedicated to the brucellosis issue in Montana. Opinions and agendas have been hashed and rehashed. Three meetings were held in Ennis during October and November to address local and statewide concerns. Yellowstone National Park is a repository of the remaining source of brucellosis in the United States. This disease has been a human health issue in the United States for many years. In 1947, the Center for Disease Control reported 6,400 human cases in the US. The brucella bacteria causes undulant fever in humans and bangs disease in cattle. Pasteurization of milk and vaccination of cattle has nearly eliminated the threat to human health. In 2006, the CDC estimated between 50 and 100 new cases in people in the US.

Brucellosis is a serious human health problem world wide today because many third world countries have no programs to address the dusease. The US Department of Agriculture began a national brucellosis eradication program in 1934, which set standards for testing, quarantine and depopulation that is still in place today. In 1956, according to APHIS, there were 124,000 affected cow herds in the US. As of June, 2000, there were only six remaining infected herds in the US. In Montana, there were 2000 herds of cattle infected by brucellosis in 1955. By 1985, the state was certified brucellosis free after the livestock industry had spent $33 million in the effort. Texas is the only state at this time that has not achieved a brucellosis free status.

This past summer there was an incident of cattle testing positive for brucellosis in Montana. This puts the whole livestock industry of the state on probation until May of 2009. If another case of one cow turning up positive for the disease occurs then the whole state loses its brucellosis free status. This has huge financial implications for the state. Wyoming and Idaho have both lost their brucellosis free status temporarily in recent years. The cause of the brucellosis in cattle in all three states has been infected elk.
 
The bison in Yellowstone Park are not managed for brucellosis control so the disease persists in their population. The elk herds that congregate on winter feed grounds in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming have an incidence of brucellosis as high as 40% according to some estimates. These feed grounds perpetuate the incidence of the disease in elk which pass it on to the bison in Yellowstone Park where many of the elk spend the summer. Some of the elk, that summer in Yellowstone Park, winter in the Madison and Paradise valleys. Elk that do not frequent winter feed grounds have an incidence of brucellosis in the 3% range or less.

So, given all of these complexities plus the political turf strategies involved, there are not any clear quick solutions. The hunting interests and livestock industries in Wyoming and Idaho are not likely to give up the elk feed grounds easily. The lovers of free range bison are not going to acquiesce to wholesale vaccinations and depopulation strategies in Yellowstone Park. The livestock industry in Montana is gravely concerned about the economic impact of losing our brucellosis free status. There is an obvious need to address the brucellosis issue as a human health issue and eliminate it from Yellowstone Park. There is a need to provide a safety net for the livestock industries surrounding the Park which provide critical wildlife habitat for innumerable wildlife species during this time. The agriculture industry is still the largest portion of our Montana economy and provides a significant portion of the basis of our tourism industry which is number two. This is not an issue to be ignored but will require the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders who share a realistic vision of management for the future. 

from National Parks Conservation Association
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information on wolf management in Montana from Fish, Wildlife, & Parks
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In rural communities throughout the Rocky Mountain west subdivision is a constant pressing issue.  When the economics of agriculture no longer seem to pencil out turning to development and subdivision seems to be the only financially viable answer for many local landowners.  The following PDF is commentary on the subject from Lane Adamson of the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group.
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A Madison Valley resident weighs in on the issue of wolves
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