CWD Cases Increasing as Feedgrounds Remain in Hotseat

Chronic wasting disease has been on the rise nationally since it was first discovered in a Colorado mule deer in 1967. CWD is now present in 36 states and its spread is intensifying, according to recent data. One area of focus for scientists is contagion in and around feedgrounds where elk gather in large herds and are susceptible to the spread of misfolded prions that cause the disease.

Toward the end of December, an elk in western Wyoming’s hunt area 92 tested positive for the disease, which is always deadly. It was the fourth elk to contract the disease near Wyoming feedground units. Earlier this month, a fifth tested positive, but this time it was discovered at a feeding site.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department on January 15 reported the first confirmed case of CWD at a Wyoming elk feedground, marking an unwelcome milestone in the state’s wildlife management efforts.

The adult cow elk was found deceased on Scab Creek feedground in elk hunt area 98 near Pinedale, Wyoming, at the base of the Wind River Range. The feedground is bordered by three CWD-positive elk areas: 28, 92 and 127. Two other elk in hunt area 98 tested positive in 2021 and 2022.

Raegin Akhtar, public information and education specialist for Game and Fish, told Mountain Journal that the discovery of CWD at the Scab Creek feedground is unfortunate but not necessarily unexpected. “While this is the third documented case of CWD detected in Elk Hunt Area 98, it is the first confirmed instance of an elk testing positive on a feedground,” she said.

In March 2024, the agency’s commission approved the Elk Feedground Management Plan, allowing the department to move forward with Elk Feedground Management Action Plans. These plans are a public-involvement process to explore short-term and long-term solutions to reduce elk reliance and disease transmission risks on feedgrounds. In a press release, Game and Fish stated that Scab Creek feedground will be included in the action plan.

Kristin Combs, executive director for Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, told MoJo last April that Wyoming isn’t doing enough to address CWD in and around elk feedgrounds. “Other states years ago just decided that it's not healthy to feed elk, so they got rid of this system,” Combs said. “But they helped livestock producers transition into preventing conflicts by giving them some resources … and Wyoming just didn't do that.”

Raegin said the department has made several adjustments to minimize disease transmissions at feedgrounds, including Scab Creek, over the past few years. These actions include feeding every other day in certain situations and when conditions allow, expanding feeding areas to spread out elk, monitoring feedgrounds for unhealthy animals, and reducing the overall length of the feeding season when conditions allow.

Without changes to feedground management, scientific projections paint a stark picture of Wyoming elk populations. Recent U.S. Geological Survey research predicts the Jackson Elk Herd could decline by more than 50 percent if current feeding practices continue on the National Elk Refuge.

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