Mountain States Legal Group
To Take On Bangs Rules Case

PINEDALE, Wyo. — Mountain States Legal Foundation has agreed to represent Wyoming cattlemen in a dispute with state and federal regulators over brucellosis testing requirements for six Wyoming counties.

Foundation official Todd Welch told the Pinedale Roundup the foundation's board agreed last week to conduct a legal review of the rules being prepared by Wyoming's Livestock Board in response to federal recommendations.

However, Welch said if the foundation decides to take any legal action, it will probably be directed at the federal government instead of the state.

"If we take on the state ... (Wyoming beef) could be under embargo from other states," he said. "The board decided it would be more harmful than it would be good."

The Livestock Board is preparing rules requiring cattle in Fremont, Hot Springs, Sublette, Teton, Lincoln and Park counties to be tested for brucellosis before sale.

The rules are based on recommendations made by a U.S. Department of Agriculture team that reviewed Wyoming's brucellosis control efforts in light of possible exposure to infected elk and buffalo from Yellowstone National Park. The state requested the review in the face of threats by other states to halt the import of Wyoming beef because of brucellosis, and state officials agreed to abide by the recommendations.

But Sublette County officials decided to ask the Mountain States Legal Foundation to look into whether the requirement could be challenged legally.

Welch said the foundation's board has not decided what form any legal challenge might take.

"We haven't had the opportunity to do all the research we need to do," he said. "We haven't decided the course the litigation will take."

Meanwhile, Fremont and Park county commissioners have agreed to support the efforts of Sublette County officials, and livestock auctions in Riverton and Worland are thinking about joining in a possible legal challenge.

Livestock auction officials in both Fremont and Washakie counties said the rules now being drafted by the Wyoming Livestock Board could devastate the business of livestock sale barns.

"It's not so much that we want to fight the rules themselves, it's more that we want to fight the way they're implementing the rules," said Steve Worton, manager of the Riverton Livestock Auction. "We realize we've got to keep the confidence of other states, but we certainly don't want to do it the way the livestock board proposed."

Gov. Jim Geringer said while he is frustrated with the recommendations, he sees no way to get around the state's promise to abide by the rules.

"If we don't go along with the implementation of the testing that's required ... then we run the risk of Wyoming's producers not being able to market their cattle," he said. "We have to swallow hard and go ahead and do it, even though it's the most disgusting thing there is."

But Worton and Worland Livestock Auction owner Terry Warneke said they may join in any lawsuit because the rules will place an unfair burden on the sale barns and producers who sell their cattle at the barns.

The rules would allow the testing to be done at sale barns, although cattle consigned for immediate slaughter moved directly from a ranch to the slaughterhouse would be exempt from testing.

"Why should a producer be penalized for marketing his animals through a sale barn, when a neighbor who sends his animals direct (to slaughter) doesn't have to go through all the rigamarole?" Worton asked.

Testing at the sale barn would be impossible, Worton and Warneke said, largely because of the extra work involved. Worton said 300 man-hours would be needed to test the cattle that move through the barn in one day.

"I don't know how physically we'll be able to do all the work the state is requiring us to do," Worton said. "We'd have to get cattle in here four or five days ahead of sale time, which is expensive to the producer."

The state needs to be more firm with the federal government in voicing its concerns about the requirement, Warneke said.

"I think they need to stand up and be a little firmer, rather than just cave in," he said.

The situation has united some groups usually at odds over ways to prevent the spread of brucellosis.

The Wyoming Stock Growers Association has been joined by groups including the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Wyoming Wildlife Federation and Greater Yellowstone Coalition in endorsing attempts to find a vaccine to control brucellosis in elk and bison.

In a letter sent to Gov. Jim Geringer, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, they also said a requirement to test cattle in Wyoming for the disease is unnecessary.

"Wyoming livestock are free from brucellosis and have been since 1985," the letter said. "We believe that current livestock management activities are working and are opposed to the imposition of testing requirements ... and view this as arbitrary and unnecessary."

Brucellosis is believed to be carried by some buffalo and elk in northwestern Wyoming and officials fear it can be transmitted to domestic cattle herds grazing just outside Yellowstone National Park and nearby refuges.

The letter, also signed by the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said the groups recommended that the state Game and Fish Department continue its work to increase the natural habitat for elk to reduce their reliance on feed grounds.

"We encourage state and federal agencies to move as quickly as is prudent to develop a safe and effective brucellosis vaccine for elk and bison and work for the timely elimination of brucellosis in elk and bison," the letter said.

The letter drew an expression of support from Geringer.

"I'm very pleased that these groups have agreed to the specifics of how to address the perceived problems we have with brucellosis," he said in a recent news release. "This is a good example of the way that groups can set aside their differences and work together when their goal is the good of Wyoming."

Agriculture and environmental groups have often argued about ways to control the disease, but the Stock Growers and the environmental groups, also including the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and Greater Yellowstone Coalition, agreed on the need to eliminate the disease.

"My goal is for all state, production, environmental and federal entities to unite and resolve this issue," Geringer said.

The letter should help convince officials in other states that Wyoming residents take concerns over brucellosis seriously, he added.