Protecting wild elk

In financial terms, all Oregon elk are not equal.

The state's herds of wild elk are worth about $1 billion each year, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Wildlife watchers account for about three quarters of that tally, and hunters for the rest, according to ODFW.

The state's 22 elk-raising operations, none of which is in Baker County, contribute considerably less to Oregon's economy.

Trouble is, those elk ranches pose a potential threat to the valuable herds of wild elk.

Domestic elk can spread fatal diseases to their wild cousins — notably chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis. This has happened in other states but not, fortunately, in Oregon.

State officials will decide later this spring whether or not to reduce the odds of such a disaster by requiring elk ranchers to confine their animals behind two sets of fences instead of one.

This seems to us a reasonable precaution. Domestic elk don't have to escape a fence to spread disease — nose-to-nose contact through a fence can transmit germs, too.

Elk ranchers worry, understandably, about the cost of fencing. If there are options that adequately protect wild elk but cost less than double fencing, state officials should consider them.