An elk with hoof disease is seen in this photograph on the Oregon Fish and Wildlife website.
Competing theories about the root cause of elk hoof disease will be discussed during a public meeting with state wildlife officials in Ridgefield next Tuesday. The Elk Hoof Disease Public Working Group will host a three-hour meeting at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Region 5 headquarters beginning at 1 p.m.
The meeting will include an update from Washington State University, which has been tasked and funded by the state to coordinate an intensive research effort into the fatal affliction. On July 21, a new state law was passed that directs WSU to work with the WDFW in order to research elk hoof disease. Time will also be devoted to discuss the potential cause of hoof rot and a plan of action for combating its spread throughout state.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and other wildlife specialists have singled out a bacterial infection known as treponeme-associated hoof disease, of TAHD, as the cause of elk hoof disease, but not everyone is on board with that diagnosis. There is a large contingent of locals who believe that herbicide and pesticide application on timberlands has led to the spread of the debilitating disease.
The Working Group includes Cowlitz County Commissioner Joe Gardner, Wahkiakum County Commissioner Daniel Cothren and Eco Park Resort owner Mark Smith, in addition to representatives from Weyerhaeuser Co., WSU, the state Department of Health and the Puyallup Indian Tribe.
“Ninety percent of all the chemicals that (Weyerhaeuser) uses say ‘don’t use on grazing land,’ ” Smith told The Daily News in May. “I have been asking the question for quite a while now, why do we allow forest land to be sprayed ... when deer and other wildlife graze in these areas?”
First documented in the Mount St. Helens and Willapa Hills elk herds, hoof disease has now been documented in numerous areas of Western Washington. Earlier this month the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commision acted to add to increase the number of game management units where hunters are now required to sever the lower leg portion of harvested elk. The regulation mandates that the limbs must be left behind at the kill site in an effort reduce the spread of the disease to new parts of the state.
The WDFW Region 5 headquarters are located at 5525 S. 11th St., Ridgefield. The meetings is scheduled to last from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.
