Hoof Rot Town hall in Cowlitz Co.

[bbarnes]

Go to the website BEYOND TOXIC and search there study's,on all chemicals being sprayed on timber lands.Everyone keeps saying they cant burn any more,NOT TRUE they still give permits out talked to the department of agriculture today.Educate yourselves on this matter our wildlife, fish and drinking water are at stake here.

[HntnFsh]

I see them burning slash all the time. They just pile the brush and burn it now instead of burning the whole cut. Not sure why though.

[elk247]

Elk247 who would you suggest is the person to see if through?  I see people (myself included) quick to criticize people (like Mansfield) who are very dedicated and well informed.  Last I heard there is really not a hoof rot expert in this country.  I do hope there is some resolution/cure found as I hate to see the elk suffer with this horrific ailment.  I don't see a cure in the immediate future, but I do see people that really do care (within the wdfw) trying like hell to make progress.  I don't buy the selenium and am skeptical to the herbicides. 
 I apologize as I, and many others must vent our frustrations.   

Good question Tbar. The RMEF offered it support and resources to the wdfw almost two years ago and was turned away. I don't see people within the wdfw trying to make progress. How is it that a problem that has been festering for 15-20 years just received formal recognition by the department a few years ago?  I hear alot of excuses about too little funding to support the research. Where are the international expert's? Waiting on the wsu to figure this out is getting old fast. Mansfield says " to trust our nose " well Mansfield, this stinks.

[timberfaller]

Not having the time to read 5 pages of post and numerous links,  and since cattle and elk tend to share some similarity's here is what cattle experience.    Having been around it,  I figured some here could use the information on how and why it occurs.  Enjoy another link!

http://www.cattle.com/articles/title/Foot+Rot.aspx 

Pay attention to the "treatment" section.

[dreamunelk]

Timber faller,
It is nice to see that some are willing to step of this web page to answer questions.  Congrats, I wish more hunters would do so.  One problem, foot rot is not what it is called.  Below is a link to a page on digital dermatitis in cattle.  Cause is Treponama bacteria identified in samples collected by WDFW.  To those that have seen the problem up close.  Do the pictures look familiar?   

http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/early/2013/10/07/vr.101802

[bbarnes]

Treponema has only been found in 5 of the 45 elk tested by Dr Tom Besser Wsu tac group member theory.Leptospirosis has also been found in the tested elk and is Dr Boone Moras theory.We have learned that all of the test have not been done the same because of the expense to rerun them.We also know the chemicals being sprayed attack soft tissue,and also immune systems in animals.We also know these areas rant to be grazed on by animals for 60 to 90 days after applied.We also know that there's been no live study's,done on these elk.Do they kill dairy or beef cattle or sheep,when they determine what type of hoof rot they have?Do they contain or treat it?Do they let it spread all over the state and others?Do we know how it's being spread?Do they know the cause?Do they know if it's in the soil?How why what these are all questions that need answer we've been getting a rotten deal to long why no signs up in effected areas to warn hunters the areas effected.Make some phone calls do some research don't trust what some else tells you,look into it yourselves.

[timberfaller]

elk dreamer, picture didn't come up with the link.  Can you furnish a picture?

[t6]

Interesting that this was published in 1996 by our own WDFW....   

   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8627923

[Basket Rack]

Everyone keeps saying they cant burn any more,NOT TRUE they still give permits out talked to the department of agriculture today.Educate yourselves on this matter our wildlife, fish and drinking water are at stake here.

Department of Agriculture does not issue burn permits to timber companies or private timber owners, Department of Natural Resources does.  Smoke management then has to approve or deny requests to burn over 100 tons per day in most areas.  This is generally dependant on weather conditions, who else is burning in your area etc.. basically the clean air stuff.  The DNR might still write someone a permit to broadcast burn on the west side but the hard part is getting the approval from smoke management to actually do the burn.  Because of this difficulty, burning contractors with the knowledge and manpower to do a broadcast burn are pretty hard to come by anymore. 

Even when lots of broadcast burning was going on, there was still lots of herbicide use.  A common term used was "brown and burn" which was broadcast spraying an area to brown up the vegetation to cure it followed by a burn.  In the years after burning release sprays were still done to control vegetation that would compete with the trees.  With alot of the same chemicals used today and some others that are not used today.

I, as some have posted already do not believe chemicals to be the cause of hoofrot.  It does alter vegetation complexes for a 3 years or so that might affect animal health.  I believe there have been some studies done by NCASI or WSU (can't remember for sure) using elk and deer in portable enclosures that were moved around to various vegetation types found on industrial timberlands to monitor animal health, browse species preference etc. (I will try and find more info on this study.)  There is plenty of herbicide work being done in all of western Oregon, Hancock ground in the Kapowsin area, Nooksack area, northern oly peninsula to name just a few where I have not heard reports of hoof problems, maybe there is in those spots but I have not read or heard of it.  I wish it would be as easy to prove that a specific chemical or chemicals is causing the hoof issues but I fear it is far more complex and difficult to solve than that.

[bbarnes]

Look at the gallons per acre that being sprayed,I have it's 2 to 3 times more in SW Washington.All the hoof rot seem to be one one timber company's land.Seem a little suspect to me also after attending the hoof rot meeting in Vancouver.Tonight we also learned WDFW has not tested any of the 45 elk they have killed,for any of the chemicals being sprayed.