America's National Elk Refuge: A ‘Miasmic Zone Of Life-Threatening Diseases'

To nature-adoring onlookers, the sea of elk gathered every winter on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming appears to be an enchanting vision of wapiti nirvana. Across generations, countless people have taken refuge sleigh rides, watching thousands of pastured wild elk being fed dry hay and alfalfa pellets. Indeed, the town of Jackson, Wyoming’s four rustic elk antler archways in its central public square are built from antlers shed by bull elk on the refuge. Many readers here might reasonably wonder what could possibly be wrong with this tranquil picture? (see below). How could anyone question the magnanimous gestures of local folk and U.S. taxpayers offering these majestic creatures nutritional charity to get them through the snow season? After all, many Americans put out corn and other grains for deer in winter on the sly, defying state laws against feeding yet believing they, too, are doing the animals a favor. In an age of Chronic Wasting Disease, looks can be perilously deceiving, scientists say. As CWD rapidly expands its geographical reach in North America, those seemingly benign practices of feeding, experts warn, could be hastening disastrous consequences. And now, with the deadly pathogen already looming on the edges of Greater Yellowstone, the most iconic wildland ecosystem in the Lower 48, what does CWD's arrival portend for the region's unparalleled wildlife populations? Many epidemiologists see the National Elk Refuge as the place where an unstoppable pandemic would likely begin...more