Why wouldn't the canadian grey wolf lead to impurity of native Wyoming wolves? Is there a double standard here? Technically yes! These are not rocky mountian elk but some kind of import.



Idaho let elk breeder off the hook in 2002
By JESSE HARLAN ALDERMAN
Associated Press writer Saturday, September 09, 2006





BOISE, Idaho -- When the Idaho Department of Fish and Game announced the escape of more than 100 domesticated elk from a private game reserve near Yellowstone National Park, former state Sen. Laird Noh was alerted with a late-night phone call from a colleague.

They specially bred trophy elk -- which GOP Gov. Jim Risch authorized to be killed on sight Thursday because of concerns they could spread disease and blemish the gene pool of wild herds -- bolted through a fence on Rex Rammell's Chief Joseph hunting reserve in eastern Idaho.

Noh wasn't surprised. Rammell is a familiar name, a man Noh described in 2002 as a "bad actor" who shouldn't have been "legislated off the books" when state lawmakers forgave some $750,000 in fines that the elk breeder owed to the state for numerous violations.

"This is often how we learn lessons," the Kimberly Republican said Friday. "It was shaping up to be a very unfortunate situation. I didn't think they had any business writing away actions of the judiciary and regulators."



Four years ago, Rammell tangled with the state Department of Agriculture over hefty fines assessed against him for failing to apply blaze-orange ear tags that identify elk as domestic. Inspectors also said he improperly maintained protective fencing on an elk ranch 35 miles east of Rexburg and protested a law requiring testing for the incurable chronic wasting disease.

Rammell took his case all the way to the state Supreme Court, where he lost. Officials say he has since complied with disease testing, but never properly tagged the animals.

Still, Rammell successfully lobbied the Legislature to forgive the fines. A law capping how much state agencies can fine violators won passage and relieved Rammell of hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Rammell has not returned numerous calls for comment about the elk escape.

A supporter of the bill, state Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, said Friday he does not regret his vote.

The bill did not support Rammell or the controversial practice of breeding trophy elk for wealthy hunters; it reined in the agriculture department for levying excessive fines, he said.

"I'd say I'm probably opposed to (domestic elk breeders)," Lake said. "But I said it then, I'm not going to let a department use heavy-handed tactics just because they don't like them, either."

Noh, who chaired the Senate Resources and Environment Committee for 22 years before his 2004 retirement, said the bill to ease Rammell's fines typifies the knee-jerk reactions against government that Noh said have become so common in the Republican-dominated Legislature.

"This is a micro-example of the trouble we get into if we go too far in turning the free-market system loose with no controls," he said.

But some lawmakers predict a swing toward more regulation in the elk farming industry. Lake predicted opponents will revive efforts to limit, or even bar, the operations in the next year's legislative session. Neighboring Wyoming bans elk farms.

"I'm sure we'll see some bills, from outlawing them to everything else," he said. "The Legislature is reactive -- you know it and I know."

State Rep. Mack Shirley, R-Rexburg, faced primary challenges from Rammell in 2002 and 2004. Even though Shirley said Rammell unfairly tarred him as liberal, he hoped state regulators would not burden the elk breeder with unfair fines.

He also cautioned against new laws that could hurt the growing elk farming industry in eastern Idaho.

"Although, Mr. Rammell is an opponent of mine, I recognize this could be devastating to him as well," Shirley said. "I hope we don't overreact to the extent it hurts the overall industry. We have 140-plus ranchers who have been so careful and so diligent."

I'm just wondering why people FREAK out at the mention of predators and elk in the same sentence, but then you get a very serious problem like disease or hybridization potential with native elk (like in this situation) and no one posts, or really seems to care!

Is the hunting and conservation community so BLIND or naive with issues like this that they don't realize that this is a very serious issue to our native elk? Doesn't anyone realize that this is a BIG FRIGGEN deal to the lasting health of our wild elk?

The way I see it, this guy owes the states of WY and ID a whole lot of $$$ to get this situation fixed. The rest of you can go back to eating your Cheerios...

MG

Well between this threat, wolves, and bears. Hunting opportunities will be affected and in the near future greatly reduced.

A well known photographer from the Worland area that has photographed in the park for well over 20 years stopped by the shop today, he asked, "guess how many elk I seen in the park this weekend"? I made a wild guess, and his reply was "NONE"! Not one single elk. He also stated that this was the second year in a row that he was not able to find a single elk to photograph. Here during the rut, in yellowstone and not see one elk, something is wrong. I was there a month ago for the weekend, morning and evening drives,glassing and using a spotting scope. Not a single elk. 2000 bison but not one elk.

With this new threat of cross breeding, and possible desease, the numbers may diminsish more.

Kudu56,
Where was this guy at? I was in the park during labor day weekend and saw quite alot, even more if you count the ones at Mammoth. Saw them all along the road from West Yellowstone into Norris and again around Canyon. Saw afew bull but most were cows and calves.
Maybe he's not looking in the right spots.

He spent a full day in the Lamar valley and stayed over night at Mammoth and never seen a single elk. We were at mammoth the weekend before labor day and never seen an elk either. Usually this time of the year you can watch bulls chase cows and fight all around mammoth. I have stayed at mammoth and would listen to the bulls scream all night long.

This guy has had his photos on the cover of the Wy Game and Fish magazine, won many awards in the state.

sounds like rulon jones around here, he makes a habit of maintaing shoddy fencing, letting wild animals get inside, and his outside, my question is who would want to hunt one of these animals in the first place, I think all these elk farms should be shut down, it seems like the operators think they are above the law and it just makes problems for everyone