Federal wildlife managers have proposed keeping supplemental winter feeding in place at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and residents, hunters, and landowners have until October 13 to put a comment on the record.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its draft environmental impact statement and an updated Bison and Elk Management Plan on August 28, opening a 45-day comment period. The agency's proposed action would reduce the number of elk wintering on the roughly 24,700-acre refuge to about 5,000 animals over the next 10 years while scaling back, rather than ending, a feeding program that has run since 1912.

Two information sessions come before the deadline. A virtual session is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mountain Time on September 15, and an in-person session runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain Time on September 22 at the Teton County Library in Jackson. Both sessions and the comment address are posted on the refuge planning page.

For households in Teton County and for anyone who hunts, guides, ranches, or watches wildlife in the valley, the stakes are concrete. Feeding decisions shape how many elk winter within a few miles of Jackson, how many spend the season on private hay meadows and subdivisions, and how many tags the state can reasonably offer in future seasons.

Inside the Proposed Action

The draft compares four management alternatives. The agency selected the one it says offers a flexible range of strategies rather than a fixed end date for feeding.

One rejected alternative would have cut the wintering population to 5,000 over seven years and stopped feeding at that point, with an automatic halt if chronic wasting disease prevalence reached 3 percent. Another would have supplied feed for 5,000 elk over five years and then ended supplemental feeding entirely. A no-action alternative would have continued current practice.

The selected approach instead leans on a mix of tools: increased or modified hunting seasons, adjustments to when the feeding season starts and ends, and efforts to redistribute elk across the surrounding landscape. It also calls for using hunters to target so-called suburban elk that migrate only short distances and summer on ranchland and in subdivisions between Wilson and Grand Teton National Park.

A multi-agency Cooperative Elk Studies Group would meet each June to judge whether the strategies are working. That review structure is the mechanism readers should watch, because it is where future changes to feeding dates and hunt structures would originate.

The 5,000-animal target is not new. The same figure appears in the 2007 plan the refuge currently operates under, and the agency has not met it. About 7,500 elk typically winter on the refuge, according to the draft plan.

Redistributing elk across the landscape has proven persistently difficult in practice, which is one reason the target has gone unmet for close to two decades.

A Disease Clock Running in the Background

Chronic wasting disease is the reason the 2007 plan is being rewritten. The always-fatal prion disease affects deer, elk, and moose, and there is no vaccine or treatment. It was documented in the Jackson Hole area in 2020, and refuge managers detected the first case on refuge grounds this spring and a second in July.

The agency does not dispute the biological concern. Its own draft plan states that the best available science suggests the disease will have significant negative effects on the Jackson elk herd over time, and that supplemental feeding will "exacerbate these effects." Feeding concentrates animals at densities that are unusual in the wild, which is the mechanism biologists associate with faster prion transmission.

An earlier version of the proposed action, studied by federal scientists while the plan was in development, would have cut off elk feeding once prevalence reached 7 percent. That trigger does not appear in the proposed action published in the draft.

That gap is the sharpest point of contention, and it is worth stating plainly what is and is not established. Modeling by federal wildlife disease researchers projects steep long-term declines in the Jackson herd if feeding continues as the disease spreads. Modeling is a projection rather than an observation, and the draft is a proposal rather than a decision. No record of decision has been issued, and the alternatives remain open to change.

Who Feels This First in Teton County

The burden does not fall evenly across the valley. Outfitters and guides who depend on a large, predictable elk herd have the most direct financial exposure to any reduction, as do the winter sleigh-ride operations that draw visitors to the refuge each season.

Ranchers and rural landowners north and west of Jackson face a different problem. Feeding was adopted in part to keep elk off private hay and to limit brucellosis transmission to cattle, so any reduction raises questions about property damage and disease exposure that the draft addresses only in general terms.

Hunters across northwest Wyoming have a longer-horizon stake. If prevalence climbs, license availability and herd objectives change with it. State wildlife agencies generally recommend having harvested animals tested in areas where the disease is present, and hunters should check current Wyoming Game and Fish testing guidance before this fall's seasons rather than relying on prior-year rules.

Visitors and residents face no direct human health restriction from this plan. Public health agencies have not documented human cases of chronic wasting disease, though they advise against eating meat from an animal that tests positive. The Fish and Wildlife Service's disease overview and the refuge's response strategy lay out current guidance.

Getting a Comment on the Record Before October 13

Reaction has split along familiar lines in Wyoming, where feedgrounds are a long-running political flashpoint. Wildlife and conservation groups generally oppose feeding on animal-health grounds, while outfitters and ranchers support it because it sustains larger herds and keeps elk off private property.

Kristin Combs, executive director of the advocacy group Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said the proposal amounts to more of what the agency has already been doing, "which we know is not working."

Dustin Stetter, president of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association, which represents commercial hunting interests, does not believe wildlife managers should reduce reliance on supplemental feed. He questioned the proportionality of the trade-off, asking whether a small number of confirmed disease deaths over a winter justifies culling thousands of elk to prevent them.

Comments can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the National Elk Refuge at 675 East Broadway, Jackson, WY 83001. Substantive comments that identify a specific concern, cite a page in the draft, or offer local observation carry more weight in a federal environmental record than form letters.

The draft was filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and appeared in a weekly notice of availability covering environmental impact statements received through the end of August. After the comment period closes, the agency will prepare a final environmental impact statement and a record of decision. No date has been announced for either.

Nature World News will follow the September sessions, the close of comments, and the release of the final document. Readers who want the underlying record rather than summaries can find the full draft, appendices and meeting details on the refuge's main

What Readers Want to Know

What did the Fish and Wildlife Service actually propose? A draft plan and draft environmental impact statement that would reduce the elk wintering on the National Elk Refuge to about 5,000 over 10 years while continuing supplemental feeding in a reduced form. It is a proposal, not a final decision.

When does the comment period close? Comments are due October 13. The agency opened the 45-day period when it released the draft on August 28.

Where and when are the public sessions? A virtual session runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mountain Time on September 15. An in-person session runs 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain Time on September 22 at the Teton County Library, 125 Virginian Lane in Jackson.

Why is chronic wasting disease central to this plan? The disease is always fatal in elk and has no treatment. It reached the refuge this year, and the agency's own draft says supplemental feeding will worsen its effects on the Jackson herd. How feeding is managed is the main lever the refuge controls.

Who is most affected by the outcome? Outfitters, guides and sleigh-ride operators with businesses tied to herd size; ranchers and landowners who rely on feeding to keep elk off private property; and hunters across northwest Wyoming whose future seasons depend on herd trends.

Is there any human health risk to refuge visitors? No human cases have been documented. Health agencies advise against consuming meat from an animal that tests positive, which is why hunter testing programs exist in affected areas.

What happens after October 13? The agency will review comments and prepare a final environmental impact statement and a record of decision. No release date has been announced for either document.