NEWS BRIEFS: Elk refuge feeding to begin / Film highlights Wyo. child judicial issues

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

By Ben Cannon

Elk refuge feeding to begin
Elk wintering on the National Elk Refuge will receive supplemental feed starting Friday, a full three weeks later than the program usually begins, refuge officials announced Tuesday.

Wildlife managers attribute the late start to below average snow cover and efforts to produce more natural grass on the refuge. Elk are less likely to bunch up when natural forage is available, which helps slow the spread of communicable diseases like brucellosis, as well as more serious diseases that are not affecting the local elk and bison herd but could in the future.

The supplemental feeding program, in which managers distribute alfalfa pellets onto the refuge, has been criticized by some, including the former manager, as an artificial solution that could spread devastating disease among elk and bison.
Last year, the refuge received a $4.3 million grant from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to replace and expand an irrigation system in order to increase natural forage.

“We hope to shorten our future feeding season as a means to reduce the risk of spreading disease within the elk and bison herds,” refuge manager Steve Kallin said in a statement.

Film highlights Wyo. child judicial issues
A new film expected to air on Wyoming public television this spring aims to highlight the ways in which the state’s judicial system frequently underserves minors who get into trouble.

In 2006, Wyoming had the country’s second highest rate of minors locked-up, according to a trailer “Juvenile Justice in Wyoming,” a documentary about how Wyoming kids, particularly the ones from poorer families, are commonly penalized for offenses as minor as skipping school and smoking.

Filmmaker Marc Homer, who coordinates the Kids Count program for the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance, said the majority of Wyoming residents are unaware that most juvenile offenders enter the system through adult courts, and only the most serious offense are protected under the privacy of juvenile courts.

“This is an issue that’s been below the radar for many people,” Homer said.
While the film sheds light on the problem, it also constructively offers solutions, he said.

Wyoming is the only state that never signed the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act, which sets rules for how juveniles can be detained and keeps them away from adult detainees. JHW


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