The Wildlife Weekly #1

CWD positive elk found in Wyoming feed-ground, old growth trees in danger, and more...

This is my weekly newsletter, I’ll be trying out. Every week I’ll come up with 3 points to cover related to The Environment, Wildlife, Hunting, Fishing, Public Lands, and other Outdoors related content. Subscribe (if you’re not already) if this is something you’d like to see each week. I myself hate click-bait, so I’ll be taking care to curate only the best stories from the week. Engage with the poll to let me know what topics you find more interesting than others.

CWD Positive Elk Carcass Found In Wyoming Feed-Ground

Recently reported in The MSN by Kathleen Shannon,

An elk carcass testing positive for CWD has been found in an elk feeding ground in Wyoming. A big worry in the hunting community for years, has been the possibility of CWD being found in an elk feeding ground.

CWD is spread through bodily fluids and as of right now has a 100% death rate for infected animals. The disease can lay dormant on vegetation for years, but luckily is killed by intense sunlight. So far, it is only effecting cervids, (animals in the deer family, which includes moose and elk.) Despite this, even folks outside of the hunting community are concerned, because of the possibility of this disease to jump to cows, or even humans. It is a “Prion” (PREE-On) disease, that slowly eats holes in the brain, not unlike Mad Cow’s Disease, that has killed roughly 233 people, and 183,000 cattle since it’s discovery. I’ll write more in depth on the disease in a later post.

The elk carcass was found east of Pinedale Wyoming, in the Scab Creek Feed-Ground, which has an average of 800 elk feeding there. Supposedly, that is 300 more than the states allowance for a feed-ground of that size. These feed-grounds are criticized as being “Super-Spreader” locations, allowing the disease to propagate uncontrollably. The feeding of elk in Jackson Wyoming began in the winter of 1909, as a way of deterring elk from feeding with cattle in the area, and to help with the survival rate during brutal winters. Many see it now as a scheme to boost elk numbers, and subsequently boost hunting opportunity and revenue for the state. With the increasing prevalence of CWD, the practice may soon have to come to an end.

The Tongass National Forest is Under Threat Once Again

After taking office on January 20th, 2025, Trump signed a flurry of executive orders, 200 within his first 2 days. I personally support some, and am repulsed by others, this being one.

I get tired of reading tabloid media that twists these executive orders to appear more sinister than they truly are, so I’m going to try and write about this one as fairly as I can. But from the looks of it, it’s not good.

From the White house’s own website, on the executive order in question:

(c) In addition to the actions outlined in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall place a temporary moratorium on all activities and privileges authorized by the final rule and record of decision entitled “Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation; National Forest System Lands in Alaska,” 88 Fed. Reg. 5252 (January 27, 2023), in order to review such rule and record of decision in light of alleged legal deficiencies and for consideration of relevant public interests and, as appropriate, conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of such deficiencies, interests, and environmental impacts. Further, the Secretary of Agriculture shall reinstate the final rule entitled “Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation; National Forest System Lands in Alaska,” 85 Fed. Reg. 68688 (October 29, 2020).

(d) In addition to the actions outlined in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, shall render all assistance requested by the Governor of Alaska to facilitate the clearing and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, consistent with applicable law. All such requests for assistance shall be transmitted to the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Interior, and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy for approval prior to initiation.

(e) The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, under the direction of the Secretary of the Army, shall immediately review, revise, or rescind any agency action that may in any way hinder, slow or otherwise delay any critical project in the State of Alaska.

Reading that, it sounds like a “Lawyer Speak” way of saying,

“Yeah we’re gonna start cutting down the old growth trees again.”

The “Roadless Rule” mentioned above refers to a rule that was put in place a few years ago to hinder the logging efforts of old growth trees. Essentially, loggers are not allowed to build new roads, meaning the only areas they can efficiently log are second growth, with pre-existing roads.

The idea of them now having the ability to build new roads, giving access to the old growth trees really sucks; seeing as the Tongass National Forest has some of the last stands of in tact old growth forest in the nation. It is also the worlds largest in tact temperate rainforest. There are many species in The Tongass, that can only live in old growth, meaning that once the old growth is gone, those creatures are extinct. Not to mention the fact that the forest is tied intensely to the fisheries of South-East Alaska. Destroy the forest, and the fishing will surely suffer. The big question, is it worth destroying one of the largest sustainable industries in Alaska (fishing), along with endangered critter habitat, for a one-time timber profit? I would say not. Below is a great documentary on the roadless rule and The Tongass.

A New Ski Pass Has Been Formed, To Rival IKON and EPIC

Smaller mountains have banded together, forming a new ski pass, to combat the monopolistic devouring of the ski industry. The new pass in question is the “Indy-pass” giving homage to the fact that it is comprised of 230+ independently owned ski resorts across the nation.

You get two days at each resort for free, and then any days after that are sold at a major discount. Most independent mountains are already so cheap that the discount price is still a huge deal.

I personally am glad to see this, as it may be the saving grace of independently owned mountains. The past few years, major conglomerates like Vail’s “IKON” and Alterra’s “EPIC” have been spreading their tendrils across the land and soaking up all the major ski areas, and choking out smaller areas. It has created a sort of “Join Or Die” situation in the industry. This has also forced workers in the industry to “follow the money” and work for these major corporate entities. When, many would much rather work for a small mom and pop shop resort, but simply cannot afford it.

The problem is that when someone buys one of these passes, and they travel to new destinations to ski, they always go with the one included on their pass. Leaving independent mountains choked out of business they use to have. Take Northern New Mexico for example. Use to, if you were traveling to Taos Ski Valley, you would also ski Eagle’s Nest, or Angel Fire. But now, people travel here and solely ski Taos, simply because It is included on their fancy pass that they have spent bookoos of money on. It also means that “Powder Hounds” flood resorts they use to leave alone, just because they know their pass works there, and a recent storm has blown through.

This combined with all of the recent strikes hitting Vail, will hopefully put pressure on the industry to change.

I enjoyed reading this comprehensive review of the “Indy Pass”

Thanks for reading, tune in next week for more outdoorsy stories.