Wyoming's feedgrounds are coming under increasing scrutiny. Because they crowd elk into unnaturally small areas, they may foster conditions conducive to diseases such as brucellosis. It is only a matter of time before worse diseases invade, like Chronic Wasting Disease. While brucellosis is rarely detected in free-ranging elk herds, it is a contagious and costly disease of grazing animals. It is problematic for game managers because it can be transmitted to domestic livestock. Infected livestock have serious economic consequences, as brucellosis causes weight loss, spontaneous abortion, infertility, lameness and low milk production. Losing "brucellosis free" status can cost a state's livestock producers millions of dollars annually. Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal neurological disease, is another looming threat for Wyoming's wildlife and livestock industry. The disease has been identified in Wyoming mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk. CWD belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, a class of disease that includes Mad Cow Disease. Wildlife Biologist Shane Moore has said that nearly all experts agree that it's not a question of if CWD will strike the Jackson Hole elk herd, but a question of when. "In my opinion," he said, "supplemental feeding in the presence of CWD is our worse nightmare."

Elk feedgrounds have pros and cons. Concentrating elk at specific locations can prevent agricultural depredation and starvation, reduce commingling of livestock and elk, reduce elk-vehicle collisions, facilitate vaccination of elk and inventory studies, and reduce competition with other species for crucial winter habitat.

Cons, however, include congregating elk in an artificially small footprint, which facilitates disease transmission. It costs about $1.3 million annually to manage Wyoming's 22 feedgrounds, not counting disease research. Feeding elk also can send the message that habitat is not important.