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10 Overall Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations
Pages 169-186

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From page 169...
... The rising number of private landowners has changed how land is used around national parks, with private lands increasingly serving as refugia for elk from hunting. With elk now viewed as the primary source for new cases of brucellosis in cattle and domestic bison, the committee concludes that brucellosis control efforts in the GYA will need to sharply focus 169
From page 170...
... Many brucellosis management efforts implemented since the 1998 report may appear to have taken an adaptive management approach; however, those efforts have not followed the basic tenet of employing an active process. More specifically, individual management actions were not designed or established to allow for scientific assessment of effectiveness, which is a central tenet of active adaptive management.
From page 171...
... abortus transmission from elk, federal and state agencies should use an active adaptive management approach that would include iterative hypothesis testing and mandated periodic scientific assessments. Management actions should include multiple, complementary strategies over a long period of time and should set goals demonstrating incremental progress toward reducing the risk of transmission from and among elk.
From page 172...
... Hunting may also concentrate remaining elk in areas that are not accessible to hunters, such as private land where cattle are grazed, thereby promoting an overall adverse outcome. There are inadequate data to conclusively recommend one or more of these options, as additional and ongoing assessments of the efficacy of these approaches would be needed as part of an active adaptive management approach.
From page 173...
... abortus isolates from elk, bison, and cattle indicate that Wyoming feedgrounds have the greatest diversity of B abortus lineages, and strongly suggest that they are the initial source of infection for other elk populations in the GYA, with the exception of some isolates from the Paradise Valley in Montana.
From page 174...
... Decisions will need to be made that balance the short-term goals of separating elk from cattle with the longterm risk of increased infection among elk in feedgrounds. The potential options below for management interventions in feedgrounds could be further evaluated using an active adaptive management approach, with the interventions applied singularly or in combination.
From page 175...
... If future work continues to support this conclusion, it is possible that closure of feedgrounds would not have any impact on brucellosis prevalence in more remote elk populations away from the feedgrounds. Closure of feedgrounds would, however, potentially reduce the "seeding" of new areas with infected elk where a reservoir does not currently exist.
From page 176...
... Biosecurity Measures There are multiple biosecurity measures that individual producers can take that reduce exposure of cattle and domestic bison to B abortus-infected elk.
From page 177...
... If DSA boundaries are not expanded in a timely manner in response to finding seropositive wildlife, there is an increased probability that exposed or infected cattle and domestic bison herds in that area may not be detected in time to prevent further spread of infection as cattle and domestic bison are marketed and moved. Further raising the risk of brucellosis spread outside DSAs is a gap in slaughter surveillance for non-DSA cattle in the GYA states.
From page 178...
... 3.5 Vaccination Vaccination is a time-tested, proven method of infectious disease control. Brucellosis vaccination has been an important part of the program to eradicate brucellosis from domestic cattle and is effective when used in conjunction with other disease management approaches such as quarantine, herd management to reduce intra-herd transmission, and test and removal.
From page 179...
... . A coupled systems/bioeconomic framework is vital for evaluating the socioeconomic costs and benefits of reducing brucellosis in the GYA and would be needed to weigh the potential costs and benefits of particular management actions within an adaptive management setting.
From page 180...
... While each state has the right to establish independent management approaches, management actions within each state can have external impacts for the other two states in the GYA and beyond; similarly, each federal agency has the right to establish independent management approaches for their area of jurisdiction, yet there may be unintended consequences that impact the mission and goals of other agencies. This points to the need for a coordinated, mutually agreed upon approach among state and federal agencies charged with managing brucellosis in the GYA.
From page 181...
... Such a body would share information, prioritize research projects, limit duplication of efforts, advise on management actions, and serve as a potential venue for communicating scientifically sound and agreedupon messages and policies to the public. The research forum established by the Wyoming Consortium for the Advancement of Brucellosis Science (CABS)
From page 182...
... abortus transmission within wildlife populations (elk and bison) and from wildlife to cattle and domestic bison in the GYA -- and by extension, eliminating it from the United States -- is not feasible unless critical knowledge gaps are addressed.
From page 183...
... These population changes could enhance brucellosis transmission and reservoir maintenance independent of bison. Land use decisions by both livestock producers and natural resource agencies that control grazing allotments (such as the U.S.
From page 184...
... The studies should be designed to determine how changes in land use contribute to altered elk numbers and distributions; how land use changes affect the spread and maintenance of brucellosis in elk throughout the GYA; and how the spatial distributions of livestock producers, grazing allotments, and elk contribute to risks of elk to cattle transmission. Increased understanding of land use changes and their effects on elk distributions and interactions with livestock will facilitate the development of resource management approaches and policies that minimize B
From page 185...
... With increasing incidence of brucellosis in cattle and domestic bison herds in the GYA in the past few decades due to transmission from elk, significant resources are needed to address a problem that is expanding in scale and scope; without the changes and investments necessary to aggressively address this problem in a coordinated and cost-effective manner, brucellosis will likely spread beyond the GYA into other parts of the United States resulting in serious economic and potential public health consequences. Efforts to reduce brucellosis in the GYA will depend on significant cooperation among federal, state, and tribal entities and private stakeholders as they determine priorities and next steps in moving forward.
From page 186...
... Revisiting Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area Peterson, M.N., A.G. Mertig, and J


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