The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Game and Fish) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced recently chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in Wyoming Elk Hunt Area 77 on the National Elk Refuge.

The National Elk Refuge biological staff humanely euthanized and sampled an adult cow elk suspected of having CWD. Tests conducted at the Game and Fish Wildlife Health Laboratory confirmed a positive case. All CWD samples, including those collected on the refuge, are sent to the Game and Fish health lab for processing.

This is the first documented case of CWD in the hunt area and the first confirmed case of an elk with CWD on the refuge. The refuge is managed by FWS. 

“Moving forward, National Elk Refuge staff will increase monitoring and surveillance of herds for CWD, re-evaluate some existing programs and implement additional bio-security protocols to keep people and wildlife safe,” officials reported in a press release.

Any changes will be shared with the public. The National Elk Refuge Chronic Wasting Disease Response Strategy contains the details for next steps.

Biologists have been tracking the various courses of elk leaving the refuge using GPS collars fitted on more than 100 female elk. The work aims to refine wildlife managers’ understanding of which elk go where as they split into four principal groups that migrate to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, the Gros Ventre and private land on the valley floor, according to a report by Wyofile.

There is also a draft “feedground action management plan” for the Jackson Herd, which dwells in Jackson Hole and the Gros Ventre River valley. The document is complex in its own right: The plan outlines 37 different measures that Game and Fish plans to pursue immediately, plus another 11 actions that could come later on, according to the 34-page plan.

The plans are fluid rather than rigid, and they’re considered “internal,” ever-changing documents, according to a report by Wyofile. They are not mandates. And they don’t get approved by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission.

Dan Smith, the agency’s chief warden, likened the action plans to a sports “playbook.”

“Sometimes plays work, sometimes they don’t, sometimes they work in a certain situation,” Smith told the Jackson crowd.

Some plays are banished. 

Because of a 2021 state law, Game and Fish lacks the authority to close an elk feedground on its own. That decision is now made by the governor, but closure proposals are also subject to Wyoming Livestock Board review.

The revocation of wildlife managers’ power is notable because the latest, best-available science suggests that closing feedgrounds will provide the best long-term outcomes for CWD-stricken elk populations and, in turn, for elk hunting. Projections suggest closing feedgrounds would also reduce elk populations and do so sooner, but numbers would stay higher and less stricken by a devastating disease.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and moose. Game and Fish partners with FWS to manage wildlife on federal lands and both will continue monitoring CWD over time to further understand the potential impacts of the disease and evaluate future management actions.

For more information on CWD testing, transmission, carcass transportation, and disposal regulations, visit the Game and Fish CWD webpage. 

Visit the refuge website for more information on elk and bison management and CWD at the refuge: fws.gov/refuge/national-elk