Wildlife advocates are calling on Congress to pass a bill to help states track diseases killing wildlife across the country.

House Resolution 6765 would spend up to $42.5 million a year to help state wildlife experts study and share data electronically on diseases and their spread.

In Oklahoma, officials are crafting a response plan to the state's first documented case of chronic wasting disease, an always-fatal neurological condition affecting the brains of deer, elk and moose, creating holes resembling those in sponges.

Matthew Wright, chairman of the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma, said the state is a top-five destination for deer hunters, so getting a handle on the disease early is crucial.

"This could have a huge impact on our economy and tourism," Wright pointed out. "The ability for everybody to keep track and have a central database (where) they can compare notes and help with tracking, and see any trends that they can hopefully cut off before it becomes a bigger problem."

The state has tested 10,000 tissue samples in the lab, but the bill would help create online "information nodes" to allow scientists to more effectively share the information among state and tribal agencies as well as with neighboring states. Wright said biologists are also concerned about a dangerous spread of avian flu, which could impact Oklahoma's $6.7 billion poultry industry.

Dr. Colin Gillin, state wildlife veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and vice-chair of the Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies, is a national expert on wildlife disease outbreaks and has been tracking them across the country. He said the avian influenza outbreak has killed hundreds of thousands of birds, including Canada geese and others in the American West this year.

"We've had raptors that feed on infected birds that have died, such as bald eagles and a lot of the scavenging birds, vultures," Gillin outlined.

Gillin said avian influenza has taken aim at the endangered California condor population. There are only 350 in the wild, and avian flu killed 21 last year. Right now, fewer than three dozen states have programs in place to track disease, and this measure would help grow the number, along with states' ability to share information. The bill awaits action in a U.S. House subcommittee.


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Wildlife experts are warning people not to get too close to the animals in national parks as the summer travel season heats up. Overeager tourists can not only put themselves in danger, but threaten the animals.

Three million people visit Montana's Glacier national Park each year, and many want photos with the iconic Bison that are threatened and being reintroduced to the wild.

Chamois Anderson, senior representative for the Rockies and Plains program with Defenders of Wildlife, said while interaction with animals is part of the national park experience, it's important to give the bison their space - so tourists need to keep their distance.

"You know, they pull off the roadway to view bison, or maybe bears if they see one," said Anderson, "and they just want to get that selfie or that photo with their cellphone, and they approach these animals as if they're at a zoo. These are not zoos. These animals are very wild, and we need to keep them wild."

Anderson said she tells park visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison, and 200 yards from bears and wolves.

Defenders of Wildlife has released a video on YouTube describing what to consider when interacting with animals in Montana's Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks.

In North Carolina, Defenders of Wildlife's Senior Southeast Field Representative Tracy Davids said the group is going beyond educating tourists, and is also asking professional photographers to back off the remaining 20 or so Red Wolves in the eastern wetlands of the state.

"Particularly now during puppy season, we've had reports of photographers getting a little too close," said Davids. "Not so much putting themselves in jeopardy, but in a way that's harassing the wolves."

An 83-year-old woman from South Carolina sustained serious injuries when she was gored by a bison at Yellowstone in June.

The National Park Service says the bison was defending its space, came within a few feet of the woman and lifted her about a foot off the ground with its horns.

The Park Service says bison injure more people in Yellowstone than any other animal, typically one or two a year.

Wisconsin's wolf management plan has been in place for months now but the legal fallout continues.

Wildlife organizations have filed a court appeal challenging the process. A coalition announced the appeal this week, which centers on how the management plan came together under the state Department of Natural Resources.

A judge dismissed the original lawsuit earlier this spring. It accused an agency panel of breaking the rules for how it interacted with special interest groups tied to hunting.

Melissa Smith, executive director of Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf and Wildlife, said by favoring certain voices, other wildlife groups are left behind.

"It's quite egregious that the citizens of Wisconsin do not have any legal standing to challenge rules in any decisions that's wildlife-related," Smith contended.

The coalition said the judge's decision conflicts with principals under the Public Trust Doctrine. The DNR said it cannot respond to pending litigation. The legal activity comes a few months after federal officials opted to keep the gray wolf on the endangered species list.

State law requires a wolf hunt if the animal is delisted from federal protections but the new management plan does not include a goal with specific numbers. Instead, the plan focuses on sustainability, which is a source of contention among pro-hunting groups.

Meanwhile, Smith stressed she wants state rules to be consistent.

"If you look at the deer plan, our Wisconsin deer plan, it states plain as day that deer are held in the public trust," Smith pointed out. "It seems that it's pretty inconsistent when they decide something is held in the public trust and when something is not."

Around the country, certain hunting and farming groups contend the gray wolf population has grown too large, putting livestock at risk. But conservationists countered the concerns are often overstated and management efforts need to be rooted in science.


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A federal judge in Montana is holding a hearing next Tuesday on a motion for an injunction against the Pintler Face logging and burning project on Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

A coalition of conservationists and activists has sued to stop work altogether.

The Pintler project is located about 10 miles northwest of Wise River, Montana, and calls for bulldozing in 11 miles of new logging roads to gain access to 3,400 acres of clear-cuts, prescribed burns and logging of more than 560 acres of aspen. It would also log another 5,800 acres in a commercial segment of the project.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said all told, there could not be a more devastating spot for this type of project because it disrupts a continuous ecosystem he said lynx and grizzly bears need to thrive.

"If we want these species to eventually be recovered and removed from the Endangered Species List, we need to have one connected population to prevent inbreeding," Garrity explained.

Critics of the lawsuit and supporters of the Pintler project said it would make strides to preventing wildfires and also backtrack on years of economic development the state has made in the region.

Beyond the sheer size of the project and the devastation it would do to the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness ecosystem, Garrity argued critical wildlife habitat would be at risk and one of the world's most natural and efficient carbon sinks would be threatened.

"These are old-growth forests," Garrity pointed out. "One of the best things about old-growth forests in addition to providing great wildlife habitat is they absorb carbon and they do it for free. It's one of the most effective methods of pulling greenhouse gases from the atmosphere."

Garrity argued the U.S. Forest Service sidestepped a mandatory Environmental Impact Statement and a policy act by secretly removing lynx designations and pretended that 145 miles of roads in the project area were not there so the logging could go forward. It is important because most grizzlies are killed within a third of a mile of a road. The coalition wants the judge to stop all work on the area until the entire case is decided.