Of Roosevelt Elk, Bacteria, Hooves and Herbicides

[jongosch]

Authored by Bob Ferris, Executive Director of Cascadia Wildlands who told me this is being sent to about 10,000 people. 

Over the last several years through numerous blog posts and comments Cascadia Wildlands has been forwarding two important notions. The first is that state wildlife commissions (and therefore agencies) in the West are too beholding to resource-oriented industries such as ranching, timber, mining and energy interests at the expense of hunters, anglers and our ever-dwindling wildlife legacy.

And, at the same time, western wildlife commissions are too accepting of the ideas forwarded by some extreme hunting groups that increasingly reflect the views of these same resource-dependent industries such as increasing clearcuts, aggressive predator control, protection of public lands grazing and more road creation for access rather than hitting the conservation sweet spots of habitat restoration, wilderness preservation, road retirement and water quality improvement. In essence, both the commissions and these more trophy hunting-oriented groups have been quietly coopted by the very elements that do damage to the natural resources needed by all wildlife and fish.

The most recent and troubling example involves the issue of hoof rot in Washington State’s Roosevelt elk herds. No one knows for sure at this point what is causing the hoof rot in southwestern Washington, but there are a lot of candidates both of a direct and indirect nature. One hypothesis that was put forth recently is that there is some link between combinations of factors that could include herbicide use by the forest products industry and a bacterial infection known as leptospirosis. Leptospirosis often causes severe muscle pain in mammals which might explain the limping observed in these elk as well as the lack of hoof wear on the sore legs. Leptospirosis has been present in Washington for decades.

As a wildlife biologist who frequently looks at complex interactions, I can appreciate a scenario that includes multiple causes such as massive habitat changes and herbicide use that put elk in a vulnerable condition so they present the variety of symptoms we are observing with this hoof rot phenomenon. But the idea of this being driven by leptospirosis or via an herbicide link—either through decreased habitat quality or consumption effects—has been met with apparent resistance in spite of efforts by a retired public health researcher and an expert on leptospirosis detection, Dr. Boone Mora, and hunter Jon Gosch who has written two well-researched blog posts on the topic. In addition, farrier Krystal Davies has also made a rather cogent argument for this being laminitis associated with or driven by herbicides.

Read the whole thing here:

http://www.cascwild.org/of-roosevelt-elk-bacteria-hooves-and-herbicides/

[dreamunelk]

Absolute B.S.!

Take a look at who they really are before you trust them.

http://www.cascwild.org/

Just another group with an agenda.  Trying to make connections that don't exist.

It is time that everyone start thinking about the "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" game.
Google it. 

[BrushChimp]

http://www.cascwild.org/about-us/

"Our vision: We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion. - See more at: http://www.cascwild.org/about-us/#sthash.ebzWeUEG.dpuf"

"History: Cascadia Wildlands began in 1998 when a small group of passionate students and community members decided to take action against rampant clearcutting in Oregon's Cascades and Coast Range. Since then Cascadia Wildlands has grown into a regional conservation leader. Though grassroots organizing, policy work and litigation, we have protected millions of acres of wildlands and prevented endangered wildlife from reaching extinction. - See more at: http://www.cascwild.org/about-us/#sthash.ebzWeUEG.dpuf"


Yeah, I'll pass, too.

[jumpin]

   Good call on that one Dreamunelk

[Elkaholic daWg]

 Cascadia wildlands was ALL I needed to see for the flaming red flag to go up!

[t6]

When given the choice of who to side with, I'll go with Cascadia Wildlands because they at least care about the survival of the elk even if they have other interests as well. 

They don't hide their agenda....its right there for everyone to see.  What is the agenda of WDFW ? (it doesn't seem to be the survival of the elk or even the sportsmen)  What is the agenda of the timber companies? Why haven't they offered money, resources, or even suggestions as to what the cause of the elk diseases. 

[grundy53]

Wow. No thanks.

sent from my typewriter

[idahohuntr]

I heard a very good update from Dr. Mansfield of WDFW on this issue hoof rot issue over the weekend. This is a complex issue and wdfw has made progress, although not as quickly as any of us would like...including wdfw.  I think public pressure has been helpful in making this a priority...and the one criticism that I think is deserving is why were no samples taken between 2010 and 2012?  Apparently hoof disease has been sporadic and infrequent up through 2008...starting about then they saw a large uptick in the disease and have yet to explain it fully.   

It appears this is a bacterial infection that has been difficult to isolate and what has changed since 2008 to cause a large uptick is unclear.  They have a panel of 15 experts who have largely discounted the silver bullet theories being floated by various non-experts...this is not a simple problem.   The herbicide connection just does not exist with any scientific evidence...now seeing the posts by jgosch and t6 it seems to me they are more interested in pushing an environmentalist agenda about herbicides than solving hoof rot issues.  I have no problem with people wanting to curb herbicide use...and certainly with all of the fee for access programs these timber companies are going to I have little interest in defending anything they are doing...I think wdfw is in the same boat.  Bottom line, while there may be many reasons to restrict or reduce herbicides, it does not appear they are linked in any way to hoof rot.

I am convinced WDFW understands how serious this issue is, and they have a group of dedicated professionals working hard to address it.  They are not trying to protect some nefarious activity of timber companies.  They are concerned about elk in SW Wa.  The claims that the meat is not safe are not at all supported by anything credible...they donate hoof rot sampled elk to the food bank.  Cattle with hoof disease when slaughtered are still sold and eaten in the US.  Anyways, I was suspicious of all of these silver bullet theories, and after hearing straight from WDFW I have confirmed my original thoughts that there are a handful of misguided people oversimplifying a very complex issue...and it is not at all helpful to solving the problem.   

[jongosch]

So you guys would rather see our wildlife (and therefore our food) continue to be poisoned by the timber and chemical companies than consider the opinion of an environmental group?  Don't you see that's how we lose our elk herds?  Don't you see that's why some of us are getting sick?  My dad, uncle, brother and I hunted hard for 18 days last year in the Coweeman unit and saw 8 elk.  8.  In 18 days.  The year before, we took an elk with hoof rot and because WDFW was saying it was safe, we ate it.  Now all three of them are having health problems and they wonder if it might be related to these chemicals.  I'm now finding evidence that some of these chemicals can indeed be passed up the food chain.

"It seems that the present study is the first one which reports atrazine residues in biological samples of cattle. The statistically significant difference between atrazine concentration in the serum and urine samples of the study and control groups indicated that atrazine in the feed ingredients ingested by cattle could be transferred in to the biological samples and could be a potential hazard for human health."

You guys need to realize that nobody has really studied this stuff.  They don't know what it does to us.  We're all a bunch of lab rats right now.

In short, your enemies are not the treehuggers, but these corporations that don't give a damn about our health or well-being. Like Bob said, a legendary hunter like Theodore Roosevelt was willing to work with a treehugger like John Muir when the situation called for it.  This is one of those times.  Ridding our forests of these toxic chemicals is of the utmost importance.  It is a generational fight.  And for the record, Bob Ferris is a lifelong hunter, a lifelong fisherman, and good human being.  He and I and bbarnes and pianoman and t6 and Dr. Mora and Krystal Davies a few dozen others are tenaciously fighting for your elk herds whether you guys can see that or not. 

Get educated on toxic herbicides, get informed about all of this political cronyism, and then get in this fight.  Otherwise there's not going to be much left for your children to hunt.

[bobcat]

I'll support any organization that is willing to help with the hoof disease issue. I don't care if it's the RMEF, the Sierra Club, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife, or the HSUS.

[jongosch]

The claims that the meat is not safe are not at all supported by anything credible...

I'll tell you something credible.  WDFW hasn't tested the meat for any of these chemicals. 

Why not?

[t6]

I can tell you that I've never considered myself a "Environmentalist"  however, I am an avid outdoorsman who understands that there are many who are making a significant effort to hide their agendas and any possible links to the herbicide issues. 

I do not agree fully with the Cascadia Wildlands views but, I do see that they are interested in the health and well being of the elk and our environment. 

Dr. Mansfield cannot with all confidence say that the herbicides have nothing to do with the hoof rot since she admitted there have been no tests to date for toxic chemicals in the elk.   

All I ask is for you to look at the evidence objectively and try to see that there is more there than WDFW and or the Timber Companies are willing to admit or test for. 

I see the obvious decline in the elk and have come to the sad realization that the St. Helens herd is lost and will probably not make a come back to be a reasonably huntable population regardless of what happens in my lifetime.   If we fail to act, it could destroy more than just this herd.  WDFW has had more than enough time and they still have no answers.  I believe its because they aren't willing to look at objective science.   

Try looking at it objectively and do some research of your own. 

My only agenda....the welfare of the elk in SW WA.

[idahohuntr]

The claims that the meat is not safe are not at all supported by anything credible...

I'll tell you something credible.  WDFW hasn't tested the meat for any of these chemicals. 

Why not?

They have tested numerous fluids, internal organs, meat tissue, etc. and found no indication the hoof disease is present anywhere but the hoof.  This is consistent with decades of research on hoof disease in livestock.  This is why the USDA allows hoof diseased livestock to be consumed in the USA. 

I don't disagree that toxins could make their way into fish and game.  Its why there are fish consumption advisories.  I am not aware of any credible study demonstrating that deer or elk meat is not fit for consumption because of toxins present in the environment...if there are, its not just limited to SW Wa I'm sure.

One other thing...if hoof disease is because of herbicides...why don't deer have this hoof disease in SW WA?

[idahohuntr]

I can tell you that I've never considered myself a "Environmentalist"  however, I am an avid outdoorsman who understands that there are many who are making a significant effort to hide their agendas and any possible links to the herbicide issues. 

I do not agree fully with the Cascadia Wildlands views but, I do see that they are interested in the health and well being of the elk and our environment. 

Dr. Mansfield cannot with all confidence say that the herbicides have nothing to do with the hoof rot since she admitted there have been no tests to date for toxic chemicals in the elk.   

All I ask is for you to look at the evidence objectively and try to see that there is more there than WDFW and or the Timber Companies are willing to admit or test for. 

I see the obvious decline in the elk and have come to the sad realization that the St. Helens herd is lost and will probably not make a come back to be a reasonably huntable population regardless of what happens in my lifetime.   If we fail to act, it could destroy more than just this herd.  WDFW has had more than enough time and they still have no answers.  I believe its because they aren't willing to look at objective science.   

Try looking at it objectively and do some research of your own. 

My only agenda....the welfare of the elk in SW WA.

I am being objective.  I have no interest or tie to herbicides, the timber companies, wdfw etc.  Boone Mora is not an expert...his theories are a joke...none of the 15 independent experts believe his Leptospirosis (sp?) claims. 

I won't rule out some ill effects of herbicides but I do not believe it is the cause of hoof disease.  Why don't you believe the 15 topnotch experts who are independent and say this is a complex/difficult issue and none of them are screaming about leptospirosis or herbicides?

[t6]

Idaho...... I like how you say that they tested numerous fluids. 

Quote:
They have tested numerous fluids, internal organs, meat tissue, etc. and found no indication the hoof disease is present anywhere but the hoof.  This is consistent with decades of research on hoof disease in livestock.  This is why the USDA allows hoof diseased livestock to be consumed in the USA.

However, you fail to mention that they have not tested for toxins.  They have not tested for Leptospirosis.   There are more things they not tested for than they have tested for.  They continue to avoid any testing that would suggest anything other than their selected diseases without success.  Its time to look at everything.