Save Our Elk - Examining antler deformities, lungworms, copper deficiencies, etc

[jongosch]

“Shall we see our children stripped of everything provided by a wise Providence for the sustenance of untold generations? The earth does not belong entirely to the present. Posterity has its claims.”
-- Frank Lamb, Grays Harbor forester, 1909

 
Hardly a day goes by anymore without the release of a disturbing new article or study exposing the terribly destructive impact toxic herbicides are wreaking on our world. Just in the last few months, popular articles have linked common herbicides to autism, anencephaly birth defects, and an exceptionally deadly outbreak of kidney disease in Central America. In that same time, a study published in the journal Biomedical Research International revealed that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide is 125 times more toxic than regulators say; a feature in The New Yorker described how large chemical manufacturers like Syngenta systematically harass scientists for producing research that threatens their profits; and the Seattle Times ran an editorial entitled “The Failure of the EPA to protect the public from pollution” which documents the chemical industry’s cozy ties to government regulators.

In this context, the battle to defend our wildlife populations in the Pacific Northwest from the known dangers of forest chemicals is but one front in a global war on this most pervasive and insidious toxicity. Our elk herds, suffering as they are from multiple maladies including an epidemic of hoof disease, are simply the largest and most obvious victims of a prolonged siege that is being waged on industrial timber lands throughout the states of Washington and Oregon. Thankfully, just as Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officials began informing the public of their intention to euthanize crippled elk before actually understanding the cause of their disease, the collective rallying cry to save these animals, or at least properly study them, has become very loud indeed.

Full article here: http://jongosch.com/save-our-elk-from-toxic-herbicides/

[pianoman9701]

Great article, Jon. Very well-written.

[jasnt]

[jongosch]

Great article, Jon. Very well-written.

Thanks, Pman.  Would you please pass it along to Benton's office and anyone else you see fit.  I'll get it to Bruce and Ed Barnes here in a minute.

[t6]

Awesome job.  I think you covered most of the bases.  Too bad WDFW won't look at it the same way. 

It doesn't meet their latest guess as to what is causing the "Hoof Rot"   

[jongosch]

http://www.yakimaherald.com/blogs/outthere/2412643-8/could-herbicides-be-causing-elk-hoof-rot

Gadfly: gad•fly, n. 1) any of several large flies, as the horsefly, that bite livestock; 2) an annoying person, especially one who provokes others into action by criticism.

Jonathan Gosch is neither a horsefly nor annoying. But when it comes to the state’s increasingly widespread epidemic of hoof rot and other deformities and ailments among its elk population, it’s not a reach to call him a gadfly — in the best sense of the word.

While the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has tried in vain for years to get a handle on what’s debilitating the elk in southwest Washington and elsewhere, Gosch has become the horsefly nipping at the department’s heels, demanding accountability and answers.

A freelance journalist from the Seattle area, Gosch became interested in the issue largely because his family has hunted southwest Washington elk for generations. For the last six months, he has been researching the hoof rot issue and blogging relentlessly on why he believes the timber industry’s widespread use of commercial herbicides is behind it.

Gosch’s latest post is, like much of his earlier research, a must read for anybody interested in or confounded by the seemingly unpreventable spread of hoof rot, as well as anybody frustrated by the WDFW’s inability to stem it.

As Gosch notes, the WDFW’s hapless response several weeks ago — to euthanize afflicted elk to put them, in the words of WDFW wildlife program director Nate Pamplin, “out of their misery” — has been roundly criticized.

Civic leaders in southwest Washington communities, as well as several members of the WDFW’s citizen panel working on the issue, are demanding what Gosch and some of his supporters have been saying for months: that those crippled elk be separated and studied until wildlife biologists can actually figure out once and for all what’s behind the disease.

That seems like a no-brainer to me. (That — “a no-brainer” — is also precisely how a member of that working panel described it to Gosch.)

I don’t know if Gosch’s theory — which is as evident as the title of his latest post, “Save Our Elk (from toxic herbicides)” — is correct. I have spoken to other knowledgeable people who believe the disease could just as easily be attributed to the widespread use of chemical sludge or slurry as fertilizer in commercially-owned forests. And maybe the WDFW’s theory that treponeme bacteria is correct.

But with each passing month, more elk are getting sick, growing deformed, getting weak, and dying.

Gosch has continued to make a pretty good argument that commercial use of toxic herbicides should not be overlooked as a possible cause, and he isn’t just throwing a wild theory against the wall to see if it sticks. He has done what any investigative journalist does: He’s been a bulldog chasing down evidence and answers wherever he can find them.

Time may ultimately prove that Jon Gosch has been meandering down the wrong rabbit hole, but it won’t be for lack of ethics or effort.

[JimmyHoffa]

While the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has tried in vain for years to get a handle on what’s debilitating the elk in southwest Washington and elsewhere

two?  three?

[pianoman9701]

While the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has tried in vain for years to get a handle on what’s debilitating the elk in southwest Washington and elsewhere

two?  three?

Try twenty.

[JimmyHoffa]

While the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has tried in vain for years to get a handle on what’s debilitating the elk in southwest Washington and elsewhere

two?  three?

Try twenty.

hoof rot for twenty.....wdfw trying in vain???  Seems they've only put any effort in last couple. 

[pianoman9701]

Some would say a feigned effort at that.

[jongosch]

WDFW began taking samples of limping elk in 2009, so at least 5 years.  But what bothers me more than anything is that they have been flat-out lying about certain aspects of this case - the disease being limited to the hooves, the disease being restricted to SW Washington.  Even after numerous people have brought these things to their attention they continue to distort the truth.  Their own web page is evidence of this.  Meanwhile, the elk keep dying and WDFW resists live studies.  Why?

[t6]

HOOF ROT!  Coming to a forest near you soon.......

[idahohuntr]

Fortunately for sportsmen, whether they know it or not, WDFW relies on their own experts and an independent team of experts to guide them in solving and managing this complex problem.  Its great there is civic engagement by resort park owners, sporting goods stores, and journalism majors...it really is...but thank goodness they are not in charge of the scientific evaluations or management of our wildlife.

I did appreciate how the OP's link took me straight to a website where there was a huge banner advertising where I could by the OP's book online    Sales must be a little slow this month so time to drum up activity to the website    But more interesting to me, I found it somewhat amusing (or maybe sad) that the author gives more credence to the owner of "Bobs sporting goods" than he does independent veterinary and wildlife experts in solving a complex wildlife disease issue.

I continue to be disappointed at how people are more interested in trashing these independent experts and public servants than they are in actually solving the hoof disease issues.  At some point I would hope the grand standing and self promotion could stop so that we can focus solely on solving the real problem and not just look for ways to grab headlines and mislead the public, ultimately delaying real solutions for protecting and managing our wildlife resources. 

[pianoman9701]

Yes, well thank god for the WDFW and their concern. And for you to point that out. 

[pianoman9701]

How the mods on here will censor me for pointing out that you unabashedly toe the WDFW company line for your personal reasons yet never censor you for slamming and discrediting another poster is beyond me.