CWD scare overblown? (12/1/02 Chicago Tribune)
12-01-2002, 01:02 PM
#1
Giant Nontypical
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Darien, IL
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CWD scare overblown? (12/1/02 Chicago Tribune)
Thought this to be a little intresting so I thought I'd post it for all to soak in. Everyone seems to have different opinions and such so here's some more to ponder.
Credit given to (again) Lew Freedman. Thanks Lew, your efforts are much appreciated.
The mounts of the huge animals are immpressive. Especially if you are from a part of the country where elk do not roam. Some of the bull elk stuffed and mounted and on display at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation weighed 800 pounds, were 8 feet long from nose to butt and stood 5 feet tall at the shoulder.
Majestic animals. The elk lined up in the museum section in the Missoula, Mont., headquarters of the organization devoted to managing and preserving the species for future generations to hunt and enjoy are all Boone & Crockett high scorers.
Elk are big brothers of deer, though far less commonin their range. They are ingrained in the west the way grizzlies and buffaloonce were, but, unlike their mammal brethen, they endure there.The sighting of elk in the wild takes the breath away because of their comparative scarcity.
If you love elk, if your reason for existence is to support, boost and preserve elk, then it is impossible not to be worried when a mysterious disease claims some of those animals.One thing elk have in common with deer is that they may be afflicted with Chronic Wasting Disease. Indeed, the first recorded case of the illness that attacks the brainand literally wastes these animals was noted in pened elk in Colorado in 1967.
Some 35 years have passed, but it is only now, with the spread of CWD into the Midwest, to Wisconsin and Illinois, that widespread attention is being paid to the disease. Symposiums are being conducted all around the country. Natural resources officials are trying to learn all they can about an illness that has no known cause, is difficult to identify quickly and is spread in unknown ways.
Yet given the slow spread of the illness, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation officials wonder if itis not being overblown.
"We have concern," said Steve Wagner, a spokesman for the non-profit organization. "But we think CWD doesn't deserve the attention its getting right now. It's not rabies. It's not tuberculosis. It doesn't jump the species. There's no science that shows it can be a limiting factor in a population."
He has a point. Perhaps there is a balance between prudence and panic.
Right now, deer hunters in Illinois are wrestling with that issue. Do they skip their traditionalforays into the field forfall archery or shotgun hunting? A compromise is awareness. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has worked hard to get information to the public about CWD's effects andthe department's testing program.
A single positive case of CWD was discovered near Rockford, close to the Wisconsin state line, last month and the IDNR, already committed to a massive testing program, revved up for the short late-November shotgun deer season. According to department spokesman Tim Schweizer, tissue samples from about 3,500 deer were collected during the Nov. 22-24 season. It is expected that about 4,000 samples will be taken in all this fall, he said.
It will take a couple of weeks for the first results to be assessed, he said, and months to learn what all sample show.
There was no indication Illinois hunters were staying home because of the in-state CW#D discovery--67,921 deer were harvested during the opening weekend of firearn deer season as compared with 62,761 for the comparable period in 2001.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was created in 1984 by four hunters. Since then, the organization has grown to 125,000 members, has involved itself in 3,000 conservation projects and has helped enhance 3.8 million acres of habitat across North America. CWD has not yet interfered with the mission of maintaining elk as a renewable resource.
"When it was a Colorado-Wyoming thing, nobody seemed to give a hoot about it," said Tom Toman, staff biologist and manager of conversation programs for the foundation. "When it was found in Nebraska, it still wasn't an issue. This isn't a one-year phenomenon."
There are roughly 1 million elk in the United States, said Toman, with 200,000 in Colorado, 150,000 in Montana, 120,000 in Wyoming and 100,000 in Idaho.
"Elk numbers are at an all-time modern high," he said.
Certainly, the foundation's role has not gone unnoticed. When a retired Illinois businessman died earlier this year from cancer, he left a stunning bequest. Bob Torstenson of Rockford, who had been an avid elk hunter, died at age 51 and left a $21.5 million gift to the foundation. He gave his 135,129-acre New Mexico ranch valued at $17.5 to the organization, plus $4 million for upkeep.
No wonder the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation believes that CWD notwithstanding, elk herds can continue to grow-and beyond the West.
"I don't think (CWD is) going th threaten the work," Toman said. "We'd like to restore elk in any of their native ranges if people really want them there."
Illinois among them, perhaps in the Shawnee National Forest. That would be something to see.
END
Credit given to (again) Lew Freedman. Thanks Lew, your efforts are much appreciated.
The mounts of the huge animals are immpressive. Especially if you are from a part of the country where elk do not roam. Some of the bull elk stuffed and mounted and on display at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation weighed 800 pounds, were 8 feet long from nose to butt and stood 5 feet tall at the shoulder.
Majestic animals. The elk lined up in the museum section in the Missoula, Mont., headquarters of the organization devoted to managing and preserving the species for future generations to hunt and enjoy are all Boone & Crockett high scorers.
Elk are big brothers of deer, though far less commonin their range. They are ingrained in the west the way grizzlies and buffaloonce were, but, unlike their mammal brethen, they endure there.The sighting of elk in the wild takes the breath away because of their comparative scarcity.
If you love elk, if your reason for existence is to support, boost and preserve elk, then it is impossible not to be worried when a mysterious disease claims some of those animals.One thing elk have in common with deer is that they may be afflicted with Chronic Wasting Disease. Indeed, the first recorded case of the illness that attacks the brainand literally wastes these animals was noted in pened elk in Colorado in 1967.
Some 35 years have passed, but it is only now, with the spread of CWD into the Midwest, to Wisconsin and Illinois, that widespread attention is being paid to the disease. Symposiums are being conducted all around the country. Natural resources officials are trying to learn all they can about an illness that has no known cause, is difficult to identify quickly and is spread in unknown ways.
Yet given the slow spread of the illness, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation officials wonder if itis not being overblown.
"We have concern," said Steve Wagner, a spokesman for the non-profit organization. "But we think CWD doesn't deserve the attention its getting right now. It's not rabies. It's not tuberculosis. It doesn't jump the species. There's no science that shows it can be a limiting factor in a population."
He has a point. Perhaps there is a balance between prudence and panic.
Right now, deer hunters in Illinois are wrestling with that issue. Do they skip their traditionalforays into the field forfall archery or shotgun hunting? A compromise is awareness. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has worked hard to get information to the public about CWD's effects andthe department's testing program.
A single positive case of CWD was discovered near Rockford, close to the Wisconsin state line, last month and the IDNR, already committed to a massive testing program, revved up for the short late-November shotgun deer season. According to department spokesman Tim Schweizer, tissue samples from about 3,500 deer were collected during the Nov. 22-24 season. It is expected that about 4,000 samples will be taken in all this fall, he said.
It will take a couple of weeks for the first results to be assessed, he said, and months to learn what all sample show.
There was no indication Illinois hunters were staying home because of the in-state CW#D discovery--67,921 deer were harvested during the opening weekend of firearn deer season as compared with 62,761 for the comparable period in 2001.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was created in 1984 by four hunters. Since then, the organization has grown to 125,000 members, has involved itself in 3,000 conservation projects and has helped enhance 3.8 million acres of habitat across North America. CWD has not yet interfered with the mission of maintaining elk as a renewable resource.
"When it was a Colorado-Wyoming thing, nobody seemed to give a hoot about it," said Tom Toman, staff biologist and manager of conversation programs for the foundation. "When it was found in Nebraska, it still wasn't an issue. This isn't a one-year phenomenon."
There are roughly 1 million elk in the United States, said Toman, with 200,000 in Colorado, 150,000 in Montana, 120,000 in Wyoming and 100,000 in Idaho.
"Elk numbers are at an all-time modern high," he said.
Certainly, the foundation's role has not gone unnoticed. When a retired Illinois businessman died earlier this year from cancer, he left a stunning bequest. Bob Torstenson of Rockford, who had been an avid elk hunter, died at age 51 and left a $21.5 million gift to the foundation. He gave his 135,129-acre New Mexico ranch valued at $17.5 to the organization, plus $4 million for upkeep.
No wonder the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation believes that CWD notwithstanding, elk herds can continue to grow-and beyond the West.
"I don't think (CWD is) going th threaten the work," Toman said. "We'd like to restore elk in any of their native ranges if people really want them there."
Illinois among them, perhaps in the Shawnee National Forest. That would be something to see.
END
12-01-2002, 07:48 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: CWD Central, WI.
Posts: 2,062
RE: CWD scare overblown? (12/1/02 Chicago Tribune)
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> There are roughly 1 million elk in the United States, said Toman, with 200,000 in Colorado, 150,000 in Montana, 120,000 in Wyoming and 100,000 in Idaho.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
1M in the whole U.S.! That does not even compare to the Whitetail population in Wisconsin (1.65M give or take). Anyone who does not think this is serious stuff needs to wake up. How would you like them to kill all the deer in your back yard? I'll tell you first hand, It FU**ing sucks.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
1M in the whole U.S.! That does not even compare to the Whitetail population in Wisconsin (1.65M give or take). Anyone who does not think this is serious stuff needs to wake up. How would you like them to kill all the deer in your back yard? I'll tell you first hand, It FU**ing sucks.
