Focus on elk as disease persists near Yellowstone

[dogdinger]

here's another one that should spur some discussion:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080707/ap_on_re_us/elk_threat

 

[dogdinger]

my thoughts on this one....

are a little different than with the wild horses. it is my understanding that brucellosis does not effect game animals or bison. these are both indigenous animals...cows are not....i say thats tough sh**t for the cows. the domestic livestock is what brought the disease into the area in the first place.....deal with it...AJ

 

[9-point]

that sounds like an irresponsible precedent, killing the wildlife for domestic animals, I think you are right make the ranchers tend their cows and let the hunters tend the elk.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Ranchers are THE political machine in the west. This article is a total crock of horsesht. The ranchers want more grass for grazing and don't want the elk eating it up. They have about as good an argument as the famous snail darter that was made famous in Tennessee about 30 years ago to stop a dam. They have jumped on this brucellosis crap that they brought into our national forests and now want to use it to destroy all those grass eating elk and bison. I say very simple, You ranchers keep all your nasty cows off all those blm and national forest leases destroying all of our pristine wildlife habitat or shut up about it.

You ranchers have it made being able to overgraze all of our federal hunting lands. This year we had one of the worst winter kills in history because when all the deer and antelope moved onto their winter range to survive their was no feed remaining because all the cows had eaten it all up. The wintering grounds out here are becoming a wasteland due to all the overgrazing and they still want to wipe out more wildlife. People all over the country have got to band together politically to fight the ridiculously lenient laws regulating the cattle industry out here with the cattlemens association being able to get everything they want for their cattle. There has got to be a balance somewhere and so far it has all been the wildlife losing. They want one simple thing and that is all the grass in the west for cows and don't want anything else eating it. I have a masters degree on this subject and have studied it all my life. I tell it just like it is and stand up for what is right. I don't need to get started on this because my blood pressure boils.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Cattle ranching does make things very difficult for elk hunting. Where you find cows, you dont find elk. Cows foul the land and streams pretty badly. I have seen areas that were full of elk one week and then when the cows are moved in the elk disappear. It makes planning hunts very difficult. Here's another twist. Ranchers get big bucks for elk hunts. They can graze their cattle on their private land and before hunting season move their cattle to leased public land. The elk move from the public land to the private land. I have seen this happen.

Yellowstone is a unique case. The Park is prime elk country with no hunting allowed and populations grow until things come to a head. Then usually a hard winter will kill thousands through disease and starvation. It's insanity. Let them die from disease and starvation but don't hunt them.