WDFW put on legal to the Goveror

[bbarnes]

Brief History,

Over the past 23 years, (since 1990), we have witnessed Hoof Rot increase from one Game Management Unit (GMU) in Pacific county to over 21 GMU’s over 10 counties, effecting thousands of elk in SW Washington.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, (WDFW) report http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/health/hoof_rot/ states simply that they do not know what is causing it, nor do they have any plan to contain or treat this now pandemic disease, WDFW estimate over 55% of all elk in the 10 counties covering over 3.4 million acres are effected. WDFW further state that due to lack of funding they are unable to determine the cause or come up with any plan for treatment of the disease. All this, despite the involvement of Washington State University, Colorado State and the WDFW Staff. The report also states that they are allocating limited funds towards this problem.

Causes and Effect,

Hoof Rot in almost all cases effects animals in poor body condition who are run down, low on minerals, have poor habitat conditions or are under extreme stress. During elk captures in 1995, near Mount St Helens, biologist reported that captured elk were in poor all over body condition. The eruption, and subsequent mismanagement, lead to over population and poor habitat, resulting in an overall unhealthy elk herd. The WDFW contributed greatly, with a lack of an effective management plan.

In 1998, and 2006 we witnessed some of the largest winter die offs in State history, with hundreds of elk starving to death.

The WDFW along with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation invested over 1million dollars in 10 years trying to increase habitat, only to have a net loss.

The WDFW has increased the length hunting seasons in the GMU’s around the Monument to over 157,000 hunter days a year. While this was designed to lower the elk herd size, instead it “ran” the elk (avoiding hunters) from September to February. This resulted in additional extreme stress, further contributing to the ill health and overall poor body conditions that have resulted in the elk herds increasingly diseased state.

From 1995 to date, the WDFW has been aware of the increasing presence of hoof rot. Curoiously, from 1998 to 2012 in the “Governors Status and Trend Report”, prepared by the WDFW Director, Assistant Director and Big Game Manger, there is no mention of Hoof Rot at all.

The 2009, Mt St Helens Herd plan, does mention hoof rot, but only as a disease that develops from the poor body condition of the herd, and essentially no mention of the increasing presence of the disease.

Nor, was there any mention of Hoof Rot, in the 1998 - 2012, Hunting Regulations. Yet, during the 2012 elk season hunters who shot elk with hoof rot were told to “use their nose” to determine if the meat was safe to eat.

The Game Commission was notified of the public concern at their February 9th 2013 meeting, where we were assured that the WDFW was “aware and working on the problem”. A quick glance on the WDFW Hoof Rot Web sight on that date, clearly stated, that “they have no idea what is causing the hoof rot, nor do they have a plan for containment or treatment”.

We feel that the WDFW has violated the public trust by not disclosing the presence of hoof rot in the SW Washington elk herds. The lack of this disclosure can only be seen to sell hunting license for revenue, with no concern for he resource or public safety.

Treatment,

While there are over 40 different known types of hoof rot, there are only three methods of treatment that have been identified. “Topical”, treatment that is put on the outside of the hoof. “Oral”, mixtures of feed, containing antibiotics and minerals, as well as high quality nutrition. Lastly, by injection of antibiotics and minerals as appropriate. A combination of all three of these treatment modalities, has proven to be effective in other locations, at treating the affected animals, and preventing other at risk animals from getting the disease; research overwhelmingly indicates, that it is rather “unimportant” to research the exact cause of the disease, that a combination of these treatments will essentially treat affected animals and prevent the further spread.

[bbarnes]

WEED* KILLING HERBICIDES --- HARMING PEOPLE, PETS, WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT
By Dr. Michael W. Fox

 

The herbicide called Roundup is one of Monsanto corporation’s most profitable, globally marketed products. It contains an organophosphate chemical called glyphosate, plus other ingredients. Other manufacturers also produce similar herbicides with slightly different formulations, all of which, like DDT in the 1950s, are said to be safe when applied in accord with the manufacturer’s instructions.
.
I recently confronted one municipal applicator in an electric vehicle spraying Roundup along the sidewalks where I live in Golden Valley, Minnesota. He told me that it was safe—“Same stuff as is in your gas tank” and that he had to do it to keep the neighborhood looking nice and to stop weeds from damaging the asphalt and concrete walkways. In an earlier call to the chief of Parks and Recreation, after I had spoken to another municipal employee spraying Roundup around the baseball field and child’s play area, I expressed my concerns about this practice. He assured me that it was really necessary because “We could get sued if a child got injured tripping over a clump of weeds.”

The widespread use of Roundup and other herbicides by municipal  and state authorities, (especially under park and forest management), businesses (notably power companies under their power lines), by private property managers of warehouse lots, shopping malls, apartment complexes, school yards and playgrounds, and by home owners on their driveways and yards, is neither monitored nor regulated.

The agricultural use of Roundup in particular has escalated, especially in Minnesota, where vast acreages of commodity crops are sprayed repeatedly to control weeds around these crops that have been genetically engineered to not be killed by this herbicide. These crops include corn, soybean (fed mainly to livestock and poultry), sugar beet and canola. Millions of acres of cotton genetically engineered to resist Roundup are grown in southern states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recently approved the planting of alfalfa, ---a major forage crop for the dairy industry, that is genetically engineered to be Roundup resistant, and has also given the OK for Scotts Miracle-Gro to market Roundup resistant Kentucky blue grass, a popular horse feed and lawn grass that will mean further escalation of home-owner use of Roundup.

 

 

* ‘Weed’ is a pejorative term for predominantly indigenous, uncultivated plants recolonizing their original habitats, enhancing biodiversity, improving soil and water quality, controlling run-off, providing food for insects, birds and other wildlife, many being highly nutritious and medicinal.
Exact figures of the amount of this herbicide being used in the U.S. are hard to come by because the U.S. Department of Agriculture stopped updating its pesticide use data base in 2008. The EPA estimates that the agricultural market used 180 to 185 million pounds of glyphosate between 2006 and 2007, while the non-agricultural market used 8 to 11 million pounds between 2005 and 2007. Monsanto is not the only manufacturer of glyphosate. China sells glyphosate to Argentina** and other countries at a much lower price, and there are more than one hundred formulations on the market.
Minnesota, the ‘land of 10,000 lakes’, is ostensibly concerned about water quality, and with what the state allows to be put into the Mississippi river, since after all, millions of tax paying citizens drink it, cook and shower with it. But to its credit Minnesota was the first state to report the discovery of frogs with various birth defects. Roundup and similar herbicides are known to be harmful to aquatic life and water quality but the myth endures that humans are somehow immune.

This myth has now been dispelled by a major review by several eminent scientists and academicians, two of whom I know personally, of research studies of the effects of Roundup on various laboratory animals under carefully controlled conditions. ("Roundup and birth defects-Is the public being kept in the dark?" available in www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5.) Glyphosate-based herbicides, residues of which are in various foods and beverages, have been shown to cause birth defects in laboratory animal tests. Many widely used agricultural pesticides are endocrine ( hormone)-disruptors causing infertility, abnormal genitalia and feminization, and could play a significant role in the genesis of various cancers. Studies cited in this review link glyphosate and Roundup (which has various additives) with DNA and genetic damage, mutations, cancer, neurological and behavioral changes, lowered serotonin levels, brain tumors, lower sperm counts and blocking of androgen, the male sex hormone. The authors of this review state: “The public--- has been kept in the dark by industry and regulators about the ability of glyphosate and Roundup to cause malformations.In addition, the work of independent scientists who have drawn attention to the herbicide’s teratogenic (birth defect) efects has been ignored, denigrated,or dismissed. These actions on the part of industry and regulators have endangered public health.”

( Endocrine disruptors, many of which have been identified contaminating our food, water, food and water containers and home environments, have been linked to the current epidemics of obesity (metabolic syndrome), diabetes and thyroid disease in the human and their companion animal populations).

It is well known that environmental changes can trigger harmless micro-organisms to mutate, proliferate and even evolve into more harmful varieties (pathogens). Environmental changes associated with the planting of herbicide resistant, genetically modified (GM) corn, soybean, sugar beet, and alfalfa, and with the repeated applications of the herbicide Roundup affecting soil microorganisms, crop nutrient uptake and disease resistance, may have created a new pathogen. According to Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University, this harmful organism, hitherto unknown to science, found in abundance in GM soybean meal, and corn products, is linked to infertility, abortions and other health problems in a wide variety of livestock, and to Sudden Death Syndrome in soy and Goss’ wilt in corn. For details see posting on my website www.drfoxvet.com/info/, and interview with Dr Huber in Acres USA magazine, May 2011.

Prof. Huber has been researching glyphosate for 20 years, and began noticing problems when he saw a consistent increase in “take-all”, a fungal disease of wheat, when glyphosate had been applied in a previous year to control weeds. He found glyphosate reduced manganese in plants, which is essential to many plants’ defense mechanisms against disease and environmental stress. Glyphosate can immobilize plant nutrients such as manganese, copper, potassium iron, magnesium, calcium, and zinc, so they are no longer nutritionally functional. Basically, glyphosate completely weakens plants with genetically engineered resistance, making them susceptible to soil-borne fungal pathogens and lowering their nutritive value.
Robert Kremer, a microbiologist with the USDA-ARS (US Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service) found differences in bacteria in plant roots and changes in nutrient availability following treatment with Roundup. Glyphosate can have toxic effects on some microorganisms, notably beneficial bacteria like nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia, and can stimulate others, like toxic fungus Fusarium, to germinate spores and colonize roots systems. This may be one reason why manufactured pet foods are frequently recalled because of aflatoxin contamination. He also found that when the soil is full of phosphate (as when livestock manure is used as a fertilizer), glyphosate more readily leaches into ground water (and poison wildlife and human beings).
Herbicides are absorbed by resistant food crops (along with antibiotic ‘markers’ and antibiotics in manure applied as fertilizer) may play a significant role in digestive problems (dysbiosis) and bowel disease in both people and companion animals being fed regular manufactured pet foods.( For details, see M.W.Fox, 2011, Healing Animals & The Vision of One Health. Amazon.com).
Lawn and garden herbicides, which should be banned, are linked to lymphatic and bladder cancer in exposed dogs who have become the modern equivalent of the proverbial canary down the mine shaft, cancer being now their leading cause of death, the high incidence of which is a recognized occupational hazard of farm workers. These agrichemicals may also play a role in honey bee colony collapse, which is becoming a global epidemic that could mean ecological devastation and food shortages since one-third of our food crops need to be pollinated by insects.

The widespread use of herbicides like Roundup and other pesticides is driven more by the culturally conditioned reflexes of an adversarial attitude than simply by the profit motive, with ultimately biocidal consequences. This attitude is under girded by a baffling indifference toward potentially harmful consequences, and by a disturbing readiness to believe that there are none.

I wish that Roundup and other herbicides would be safe for the sake of all involved and all that may be harmed, especially aquatic life, the life in the soil as well as life in the womb and egg. Steering clear of imprecise risk-benefit analyses and debates, often biased by vested interests, I fully recognize the scientific limitations of safety and toxicity determinations, especially when there are other chemical additives in Roundup and other herbicide formulations, when these chemicals are changed due to metabolic processes in organisms, and when there is already a host of  other chemical compounds contaminating the food chain, environment, rain water and human amniotic and other body fluids and tissues.

 Stock holders and other stake holders invested in the herbicide and agrichemical business have as much responsibility to be accountable for the public and environmental health risks and documented harms as do the manufacturers, state and federal regulators and all end-users. The now global use of products such as Roundup is totally unacceptable and all responsible governments should review the scientific evidence that supports this conclusion, and take the long overdue steps to prohibit the cosmetic (domestic), agricultural and other uses of such hazardous substances.

My advice to consumers, parents and pet owners alike, is to avoid all corn, canola, beet sugar and soy-containing consumables unless they are organically certified. All community uses of herbicides and other pesticides need to be confronted especially where their use exposes children and companion animals to unnecessary risk, as well as indigenous wildlife, including aquatic affected by run-off. Garden supply centers should be informed and only permitted to sell less harmful lawn and garden weed control products. Applying the precautionary principle, in the light of considerable scientific evidence of the health risks of this class of chemicals, is common sense after all is said and done.

 **Argentine government scientists, Alejandra Paganelli et al conducted a study, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology in 2010 ( vol. 23: p 1586-1595) entitled  “Glyphosate-based Herbicides Produce Teratogenic Effects on Vertebrates By Impairing Retinoic Acid Signalling”. Malformations in frog and chicken embryos developed at doses far lower than those used in agricultural spraying. These malformations were reportedly similar to human birth defects found in genetically modified soy-producing regions in Argentina. (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx1001749).
Citations Referenced in Text
Antoniou M et al  Roundup and birth defects-Is the public being kept in the dark? Earth Open Source 2011. Available in www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5.)
Hayes HM et al Case-control study of canine malignant lymphoma positive association with dog owner’s use of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicides. J Nat Cancer Inst 1991, 83: 1226-1231
Glickman LT et al  Herbicide exposure and risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers. J Amer Vet Med Assoc 2004,. 224:1290-1297
 Johal GS and Huber DM. Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. Eur J Agron 2009, 31:142-152.
. Kremer RJ and Means NE. Glyphosate and glyphosate-resistant crop interactions with rhizosphere microorganisms. Euro J Agron 2009, 31: 153-161.
Yamada T. Kremer RJ. De Carmargo e Castro and Wood BW. Glyphosate interactions with physiology, nutrition, and diseases of plants: threats to agricultural sustainability? Eur J Agron 2009, 31: 111-113
ADDITIONAL CITATIONS COLLATED BY DIANA POST, DVM, RACHEL CARSON COUNCIL INC.
 Arbuckle, T; et al, “An exploratory analysis of the effect of pesticide exposure on the riskof spontaneous abortion in an Ontario farm population”, Environmental Health Perspectives, 109, 2001, 851-857
Cauble, K.; et al, “Sublethal effects of the herbicide glyphosate on amphibian metamorphosis and development”, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 75, 2005, 429-435
Costa, M.; et al, “Oxidative stress biomarkers and heart function in bullfrog tadpoles exposed to Roundup Original”, Ecotoxicology, 2008, 17, 153-163
Dallegrave, E.; et al, “Pre- and postnatal toxicity of the commercial glyphosate formulation in Wistar rats,” Archives of Toxicology, 81, 2007, 665-673
De Roos, A.; et al, “Cancer Incidence among Glyphosate-Exposed Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study”, Environmental Health Perspectives, 113, 2005, 1, 49-
Garry,V.; et al, “Birth defects, season of conception, and sex of children born to pesticide applicators living in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, USA”, Environmental Health Perspectives, 110, 2002, Suppl 9, 441-449.
Gasnier, et al, “Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines”, Toxicology, 262, # 3, 2009
Glusczak, L.; et al, “Effect of Glyphosate herbicide on acetylcholinesterase activity and metabolic and hematological parameters in piava (Leporinus obtusidens)”, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 65, 2006, 237-241
Gove, B.; et al, “Effects of herbicide spray drift and fertilizer overspread on selected species of woodland ground flora: comparison between short-term and long-term impact assessments and field surveys”, Journal of Applied Ecology, 2007, 44, 374-384
Hardell, L., “A case-control study of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and exposure to pesticides”, Cancer, 85, 2, 1999, 1353-1360
Marc, J.; et al, “Glyphosate-based pesticides affect cell cycle regulation”, Biology of the Cell, 96, 2004, 3, 245-249
Neumann, G.; et al, “Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection”, Special Issue 20, 2006, Univ. Hohenheim, Inst. Plant Nutrit 330, D- 70593 Stuttgart, Germany, 963-969.
Perez, G., et al, “Effects of the herbicide roundup on freshwater microbial communities: a mesocosm study”, Ecological Applications, 17, 2007, 2310-2322
Soso, A.B.; et al, “Chronic exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of a glyphosate-based herbicide alters hormone profiles and affects reproduction of female Jundia (Rhamdia quelen)”, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 23, 2007, 308-313
Yousef, M.; et al, “Toxic effects of carbofuran and glyphosate on semen characteristics in rabbits”, Journal of Environmental Science Health, B30, 4, 1995, 513-534

 POSTSCRIPT:
 YET ANOTHER REVIEW RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CONSUMING HERBICIDE RESISTANT CORN & SOYBEANS
A new report reviewing 19 studies of mammals fed with commercialized GM soybean and maize (which represent more than 80% of all GMOs grown on a large scale) indicates liver and kidney signs of toxicity in mammals fed on a GM diet. The report by Gilles-Eric Séralini et al is published in Environmental Sciences Europe (2011, 23, 10-20). The full paper is available at: http://www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10

 

The author is a veterinarian & writes the syndicated newspaper column Animal Doctor. His latest book is Healing Animals and The Vision of One Health, with Amazon.com  His website is www.drfoxvet.com/info/

 

[bigtex]

We feel that the WDFW has violated the public trust by not disclosing the presence of hoof rot in the SW Washington elk herds. The lack of this disclosure can only be seen to sell hunting license for revenue, with no concern for he resource or public safety.

How can you say WDFW is not disclosing the presence of hoof rot when:
1- There are several WDFW websites just dedicated to hoof rot
2- Within the past 5-10 years there have been several news reports on local TV stations regarding the issue, there was one earlier this year on King 5

The large majority of hunters in SW WA know about hoof rot. If WDFW "violated the public trust by not disclosing the presence of hoof rot" nobody would know about it.

[JLS]

The WDFW has increased the length hunting seasons in the GMU’s around the Monument to over 157,000 hunter days a year. While this was designed to lower the elk herd size, instead it “ran” the elk (avoiding hunters) from September to February. This resulted in additional extreme stress, further contributing to the ill health and overall poor body conditions that have resulted in the elk herds increasingly diseased state.

Statements like this really reduce the credibility of your argument.  What do you want done, do you want the herd size reduced or the animals to have refuge from stress?

I've seen elk herds in MT that were hunted from September through February, and they appeared to be healthy enough.  Is the forage in SW Washington is that poor?

How has there been a net loss in habitat over the last ten years?

I'm not trying to be a wise guy here, but if you want support it would certainly help you to articulate your arguments instead of just reposting the same shotgun propoganda over and over.

[huntnphool]

Just wondering what you suggest?

Still waiting Barnes.

[Practical Approach]

The WDFW has increased the length hunting seasons in the Gum's around the Monument to over 157,000 hunter days a year. While this was designed to lower the elk herd size, instead it ran the elk (avoiding hunters) from September to February. This resulted in additional extreme stress, further contributing to the ill health and overall poor body conditions that have resulted in the elk herds increasingly diseased state.

Statements like this really reduce the credibility of your argument.  What do you want done, do you want the herd size reduced or the animals to have refuge from stress?

I've seen elk herds in MT that were hunted from September through February, and they appeared to be healthy enough.  Is the forage in SW Washington is that poor?

How has there been a net loss in habitat over the last ten years?

I'm not trying to be a wise guy here, but if you want support it would certainly help you to articulate your arguments instead of just reposting the same shotgun propoganda over and over.

Seems to me, both are important.  While it might be prudent to reduce the herd size to prevent disease spread or simply eliminate infected animals, it would also be desireable to give the elk some refuge.  Short intense seasons possibly?

Yes, the forage in SW Washington is pretty darn poor unless you are an elk that lives on farm pastures.  In fact, past research has shown that it is common for western Washington cow elk to have a calf every other year due to such poor forage conditions.  It takes a cow two years sometimes to build up enough fat reserves to breed.  There is not much protein in most of the plants that elk eat in western Washington. 

I am guessing that the habitat has changed around the volcano drastically since the eruption.  Anyone who has visited could see monoculture of trees that are all the same age planted post eruption.  Hopefully, the trees are becoming old enough where some thinning and cutting is taking place thus opening up the ground floor for something to actually grow that  elk like to eat. 

 
 

[nontypical176]

Not trying to start anything here or debate but its hard not for me to ask questions and offer opinions on the matter.

Herd size is the problem?  Maybe but I don't think so.  Just seemed to happen so quick and I've been hunting these parts for 30 years, herd numbers seem like they always were especially towards the coast away from Mt St Helens.

Stress from hunting?  Maybe all forms of hunting combined but not just humans.  Around here irrisposible dog owners have the elk running year around but comparing the 5 acre waste land I live in to the outer limits of the Coweeman unit isn't right either and the elk out there have hoof rot too.  But around here the game is pushed by pet dogs way worse than hunters.

Spraying?  Well maybe, Weyerhauser was spreading fertilizer within a quarter mile of my last bull, but the herds with the greatest numbers of infected elk (atleast around here) are in the developed areas that are not owned by timber companies and such.  I guess maybe we all use the same chemicals or it just don't take much?

Infects unhealthy elk?  Well maybe that too, but a couple of the raghorns I harvested had good fat, were good sized elk.  I guess all the elk in this huge area all became unhealthy at some point and I just didn't know it.  Generally it would seem herd size would shrink naturally with less calves and such, but what do I know?

Another thing I note in the infected elk that boggles me and if someone can help me to understand how or why that so often it is only one rear hoof thats infected, I would appreciate it.  Doesn't it seem strange there is a target area for fungus or parasites or whatever it is that deffinently prefers a rear hoof and most often only one of them....I am going to start looking closer at the herd next time they are in the area to see if whatever the heck it is prefers left or right side more.  I can tell you from 30' off my porch walking through mowed grass close to 80% are only limping on 1 rear leg.  When I say limping it means physically, lack of hoof, or elongated hoof.  The other hoofs most often appear fine even in game we've harvested, and I haven't looked close enough but all the limpers mite have had an infected rear even if another area was infected.  The elk that mysteriously fell dead at my sisters house had 3 badly infected hooves and was very skinny.  A cow my buddy shot in the Battleground unit was limping badly but the hooves looked fine.  Could have been the result of some other accident but that elk had all the signs of hoof rot and was with a herd of hoof rotted elk but it had normal hoofs.  Is there a logical explanaition I'm missing for the rear hoof being so often the problem?  Not trying to change topics, but its just another reason for me to be conscerened with the meat in my freezer.  I wish I would have saved the WDFW answer to this question it was obvious they didn't want to answer me at all.

My mom thinks that somehow it is infecting the brain....talking about the elk not the WDFW....and its just making areas of the body more prone to disease and problems.  Don't know, I just want it to go away and if heads have got to roll so that we have deffinte answers, good or bad, than so be it.