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Controversial elk research operation coming to an end

ElkQuest vacating Old Fort property after 13 years
Informational signs on the former campus of Fort Lewis College south of Hesperus tell some of the history of the property. In July, Fort Lewis College is expected to take over management of 6,300 acres of the Old Fort, which includes an operation of a now-closed facility conducting research on elk.

With a new managerial arrangement expected to be finalized in June, it appears that at least one of six leases at the Old Fort campus in Hesperus won’t be renewed.

Pending approval of a beneficiary use agreement with the state, Fort Lewis College is expected to gain control of 6,300 acres of state land at the Old Fort starting July 1.

But after the school voiced reservations about extending a lease for ElkQuest, an elk hunting and chronic wasting disease research operation, owner Barry Dyar placed the business on the market for $3.7 million.

Dyar has moved his 200 elk from the 1,500 leased acres to his Oxford residence, Mad Hatter Ranch, where he breeds the animals. The lease ends on June 30, 2017.

Both sides point to a long-standing battle over the legitimacy of Dyar’s research on chronic wasting disease, an illness that causes slow starvation in elk, deer and moose. Dyar established the now-defunct Elk Research Institute on the Hesperus property in 2003 with the intent of breeding an animal resistant to it.

He subleased the land for the first seven years on Colorado State University’s allotment. Because the work was deemed educational, Dyar used the land for free.

But he faced scrutiny over the years and was accused of using research as a facade for an expensive private hunting ground. Dyar said he sold hunts not for profit but to fund his work.

“They (FLC) want it for educational purposes, and my operation isn’t fitting in with their philosophy of how to use the property,” Dyar told The Durango Herald. “Frankly, I don’t understand it.”

The lingering question has been whether Dyar has successfully bred a disease-resistant animal, as he says.

“The college has expressed concerns over the Elk Research Institute,” FLC spokesperson Mitch Davis said. “We want to know what, if any, research has been done.”

The theory is that a naturally occurring mutation is resistant to the disease and can be replicated by breeding elk of that genotype. Whether such an elk has been bred is a matter of debate.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife declined to comment for this story.

When CSU closed its San Juan Basin Research Center in 2010 after state funding cuts, Dyar said the Elk Research Institute board decided to dissolve because research dollars were drying up.

But Dyar continued his research, funded by elk hunts, under the business name ElkQuest with an annual operating cost of $250,000, excluding labor. He was allowed to stay on the Hesperus land under a $3,000 annual grazing lease.

“Because I only have a four-year biology degree from Fort Lewis College, they think I’m not qualified to breed animals,” Dyar said. “I have animal husbandry skills and the ability to collect and interpret data.”

Dyar said he has not introduced new elk to his herd in 15 years, except for artificial insemination, and all of the new births last year are of the resistant genotype. He culls animals deemed susceptible to the disease and expects 65 new calves this spring.

To perpetuate resistant animals, Dyar said the answer is simple: Use resistant animals for breeding in other herds.

Dyar has appealed to the state land board to extend his lease for 10 years. Dyar argued the college has more property than it can manage, and offered to pay $10 an acre, which is above market value.

Dr. Glen Zebarth, who has researched chronic wasting disease and is an affiliate of the North American Elk Breeders Association, wrote a letter to the state land board supporting Dyar’s work.

“Over the years, I have become familiar with Mr. Dyar’s elk herd work on CWD resistance,” Zebarth wrote. “The potential impact this herd could have on the future of the elk species should not be taken lightly.”

But longtime skeptics of Dyar’s work maintain that even if he has bred an immune or resistant elk, it doesn’t serve wild populations.

“If you come up with a chronic wasting disease-resistant elk, that only benefits elk ranchers,” said David Petersen, a local conservationist, author and opponent of Dyar’s business. A theory on chronic wasting disease is that it spreads through urine and feces, and confined animals are more prone to it.

Kalin Grigg, a former FLC professor, lobbied against ElkQuest in the past on the grounds that Dyar used public resources to subsidize a questionable private practice.

Asked if he could subject his animals to the disease to prove their resistance, Dyar said it would be irresponsible to introduce CWD to Southwest Colorado, which has not been infiltrated by it.

Dyar said he hopes someone can continue his work, but his business is coming to an end in La Plata County; he said continuing his work at his Oxford residence isn’t viable because of space limitations.

jpace@durangoherald.com

Jul 20, 2016
Chronic wasting disease discovered in deer east of Montrose
May 19, 2016
Old Fort campus may soon be under FLC control
Mar 10, 2016
Fort Lewis College to control Hesperus campus


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