It says something about the place we call home when so many wildlife issues are centered near our corner of the state and our part of the country. 

In recent years, those have included ongoing concerns and conflicts surrounding grizzlies and wolves, black-footed ferrets, cutthroat trout, aquatic invasive species, sage grouse, elk, bison, deer and bighorn sheep. 

While those concerns often revolve around the vitality of entire species, some focus more particularly on the physical health of some animal species and the spillover effects they have on people nearby. 

We in Park County and Wyoming value our wildlife, and people from other areas do as well. Our wildlife heritage is one of the things that attracts tourists to our state and our area. And now, with energy dollars dwindling, revenue from tourism is one of the state’s economic bright spots. 

Even before oil and energy prices fell, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department was struggling to make ends meet. Once tasked only with managing hunting in the state, the department now is responsible for testing for diseases, monitoring endangered species and other added responsibilities. 

In today’s edition, the Tribune wrapped up a five-part series of stories about the Endangered Species Act, including its effects on the Game and Fish Department. 

Friday’s edition of the Tribune also included updates on two of those animal health issues: brucellosis in bison, elk and cattle and chronic wasting disease in deer, elk and moose. Both health concerns are important, and neither is easy to solve. Both are among the challenges facing the Wyoming Game and Fish Department today. 

Brucellosis, a disease that causes elk and bison to abort their fetuses, is of particular concern to ranchers in Park County, because it can, and has occasionally, spread to cattle, where it also causes miscarriages. Without preventative measures, it can affect the health of entire herds. 

An unidentified Park County herd was quarantined last month after one cow tested positive for brucellosis. The cow had been vaccinated, but it contracted the disease despite that preventative effort. 

While the rest of the country has remained brucellosis-free for decades, the prevalence of the disease among elk and bison in northwestern Wyoming makes it very difficult to eradicate in Wyoming.

In recent years, all livestock brucellosis infections were contracted through contact with infected elk. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has worked to reduce the size of elk herds that graze near cattle, through increased hunting opportunities and herd-thinning efforts.

But there is ongoing concern that infected bison could spread the disease to cattle as well.

Some envision reducing the incidence of brucellosis in wildlife through vaccination. But a solution of that nature has proven elusive, as it would be both costly and, so far, relatively ineffective because there are so many elk and deer in such a large and difficult-to-navigate area. 

Meanwhile, the number of hunt areas in Wyoming — including the northern Big Horn Basin — where deer, and sometimes elk, test positive for chronic wasting disease has increased over the last several years. 

Chronic wasting disease, a spongiform encephalopathy, does what its name implies: It affects infected animals’ brains and causes them to waste away; eventually, they are unable to eat or drink. 

The degenerative disease is caused by a prion protein similar to the one that causes mad cow disease.

Chronic wasting disease affects only cervids — deer, elk and moose, and the incidence rate within affected areas is low. The disease has not been found in other species, and it is not believed to be contagious to humans. However, just in case, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has given hunters a list of precautions, such as not hunting sick animals and deboning meat when processing deer, elk and moose. 

These diseases are only two of the many challenges facing the department, and Wyoming, today. 

However, the 2014 Wyoming State Legislature refused the department’s request to raise hunting license fees to help pay for its increasing costs. Instead, lawmakers ordered department leaders to tighten their budget and run a leaner operation. 

We believe the department has done what the Legislature asked it to do. It is running leaner and functioning more economically, but its resources still are stretched thin.

It’s time now to provide additional funding through increased hunting license fees to help pay for the additional demands placed on the department. In addition, the state’s general fund should continue to pay for the department’s responsibilities that are of statewide significance, such as boat inspections to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species and promote sage grouse conservation efforts.