Elk farmers in cross hairs

Ecological concerns about dozens of elk that escaped from an eastern Idaho ranch where visitors pay thousands of dollars for a shot at trophy bulls has reopened deep-rooted controversy surrounding elk farming in the state.

Concerned that the domestic elk may carry disease or impure genes that could spread to wild animals, state game officials have killed several of the elk, which may have escaped from the ranch as long ago as early August.

The incident has North Idaho ranchers worried about their image and that it will lead to more restrictions. They say that raising elk – a practice banned in Washington – is safe and within their rights as landowners.

Yet state wildlife agencies and conservation groups claim the escape highlights potential threats posed by elk farms, necessitating greater restrictions.

Officials believe the elk escaped on – or before – Aug. 14 from Rex Rammell’s 200-acre Chief Joseph hunting reserve, located near Yellowstone National Park. Guests pay as much as $5,995 to shoot bulls he’s bred to have especially large racks.

Authorized to eliminate the elk by Gov. Jim Risch, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game started searching for the herd by helicopter and on foot Saturday. At least 16 of the elk, identified from a distance by tags, have been killed and several others trapped by Rammell, said Steve Huffaker, department director.

Officials said Rammell didn’t notify authorities of the escape within 24 hours, as required by state law.

Rammell asserts that Risch lacked justification for ordering the elk killed. He said state game officials – whom he contends are jealous about competition from game-farm hunting – exaggerated concerns about disease and genetics.

Huffaker noted that Rammell had weeks to get the elk back. He worries that Rammell might not have followed other regulations, such as regular disease testing. As a precaution, the state is testing all the killed elk for genetic purity and diseases, including tuberculosis, brucellosis and chronic wasting disease – a fatal disease affecting deer, elk and moose that has become widespread in wild herds in areas of Colorado and Wyoming. No cases of chronic wasting disease have been found in Idaho.

Huffaker said officials are unsure exactly how many animals escaped because Rammell’s inventory records are poor. Huffaker estimated that the escaped herd may number 160, but Rammell said 74 got away and denies poor record-keeping.

Domestic game in Idaho have escaped in the past, but not in such large numbers or as close to mating season, Huffaker said.

Game farms are overseen by the Idaho Department of Agriculture, which isn’t as critical of Rammell as is the state Fish and Game Department.

Although Rammell didn’t provide proper notification, he appears to meet other requirements, said Wayne Hoffman, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture. The circumstances of the escape remain under investigation, he said.

Fellow game ranchers characterized Rammell as a renegade who has chosen not to join the Idaho Elk Breeders Association, an industry group. Gary Queen, the association’s director and the manager of a ranch in Cataldo, said he worries the incident might spur more restrictions.

“That’s one of our fears, obviously,” he said. “It’s one of the things we’re concerned about, and one of the reasons we’re willing to talk with the governor. We want to get the story straight.”

Queen said Huffaker’s department is scrutinizing elk ranchers because of a long-standing vendetta.

“My question is, why is it such a big deal?” he asked. “If they were a herd of cattle or a herd of bison, would they be making this big of news?”

Debate about ranch-raised elk, reindeer and fallow deer in Idaho emerged in the early 1990s when game farmers successfully lobbied for oversight of their operations to be switched from the Department of Fish and Game, which favored rigid restrictions, to the Idaho Department of Agriculture, which supervises livestock. Ranchers said they wanted the state’s roughly 20 game farms to be considered farm businesses for tax and loan purposes.

Now, the state breeders’ association lists about 50 members, including several in North Idaho. About 150 elk roam at the 144-acre Rose Lake Elk Ranch that Queen manages, and Ben Dorn has raised a roughly 49-elk herd on 153 acres in Athol.

Most states surrounding Idaho have tougher restrictions on game ranching, the exception being Utah, which allows both game ranching and hunting operations, said Brad Compton, Idaho Fish and Game Department big-game manager in Boise. In Washington, state lawmakers outlawed game farming in 1992 to prevent the spread of disease and genetic impurity. Wyoming has also banned game ranching. Montana allows game farms, but voters there banned “canned hunts” – as critics call the shooting of domestic elk – in 2000. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife controls the limited game ranching in that state, Compton said.

The escape concerns the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said Bernie Holz, wildlife supervisor.

“We’ve issued a permit under our statutes, and if we detect any of those elk in Wyoming, we’ll be killing them,” he said.

Game farm elk tend to have a high incidence of disease, he said.

Biologists have confirmed tuberculosis in domestic elk from Canada and chronic wasting disease in game farm animals in several states, he said.

Kristin Mansfield, a Spokane Valley-based veterinarian for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, agreed that farm game pose “significant wildlife disease problems.” It’s practically impossible to eradicate disease once introduced to the wild, she said.

Some elk farmers also crossbreed their stock of Rocky Mountain elk with other species, such as red deer, to produce animals with larger horns, she said. If hybrid animals escaped from a farm, they might spread impurities.

“I don’t think there’s a wildlife biologist or a wildlife veterinarian in the country that would tell you that they thought that deer farming or elk farming was a good idea,” Mansfield said.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, a nonprofit conservation group, also opposes game farming, citing concerns about disease and hybridization.

Queen said genetic impurity isn’t a problem, because ranchers adhere to state laws prohibiting hybridization and receive their animals from certified stock.

“The elk breeders of this state have always been on the cutting edge of being proactive in regulation of our industry,” he said, adding that domestic elk are “the purest and the most-tested animals on earth,” regularly tested for disease.

By comparison, he said, the state does little testing of wild animals, and ranchers are concerned about wild elk spreading disease to their herds. Compton said the state tests more than 1,000 wild elk a year at hunter check stations, meat lockers and taxidermy shops.

Dorn hopes to have as many as 300 elk and to allow hunters to kill about 50 bulls a year at his Broken Arrow Elk Ranch. Hunting on reserves like his gives disabled people a chance to enjoy an activity they couldn’t otherwise, said Dorn, who plans to market to blind hunters and those who use wheelchairs.

“I’ve got some happy elk out here,” he said.

Dorn and Rammell contend the Department of Fish and Game fears competition from farms.

“We’re in direct competition for non-resident hunters, and Fish and Game hates it,” Rammell said. “They can’t use that as the reason to put us out of business, so they claim disease and genetic impurities, and it’s just simply not true.”

That’s disputed by Compton, the Idaho big-game manager. “Most of our customers aren’t interested in shooter-bull operations” because of the cost and ethical considerations, he said.

Elk tag sales in Idaho peaked in the mid-1990s and then began to decline. Sales have begun to rebound in recent years.

Grant Simonds, executive director of the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, said he opposes hunting farm elk because it tarnishes the image of Idaho hunting.

“We certainly are not going to challenge what people do with their private lands unless it gets to the point, as it is now, when Idaho’s wild elk could be threatened significantly with this outbreak over in Eastern Idaho,” he said.

Dorn has witnessed a successful campaign to restrict elk farming in Montana, and he worries more restrictions will be enacted in Idaho.

“It’s just really unfortunate,” Dorn said. “Because I would say every rancher I’ve met goes to great lengths. They love elk. They admire them.”