Alaska Llamas & Outdoors Blog

A recent letter (below) from Dr. Chris Cebra (DVM and noted camelid/llama veterinary researcher at Oregon State University) exonerates camelids from disease threats being purported by the The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), various  government agencies, and special interest groups such as the Wild Sheep Foundation.  To download Dr. Chris Cebra's letter (09-11-2024)  go to this link: https://www.packllamas.org/pdf/akban/cebra-letter.pdf Why Is This Important?  Although WAFA and special interest groups have no regulatory power, they influence government agencies to enact government regulations restricting the use of pack llamas on public lands and promote the spread of misinformation. This Memo from the Ad Hoc Committee for Llama Access to Public Lands (below) provides important background information. It was sent to the WAFWA-WSI and the WHC and all western state wildlife directors, accompanying the Dr. Cebra Letter in November 2024. Memo fr...

The American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners (AASRP), issued the following policy statement in February 2020. This policy statement comes from a professional association of approximately 1000 U.S. practicing, research, and regulatory veterinarians charged with protecting and guarding the health of the domestic and wild species. They understand better than anyone the disease interactions of each species both within and across species lines.  AASRP Policy Statement Concerning Camelid Pack Animal Disease Risk: There exists concern that the entry of camelid pack animals (llamas, alpacas) onto public lands poses a potential risk of disease to resident endangered or threatened ungulate populations including Boreal Caribou, Northern Mountain Caribou, Central Mountain Caribou, Southern Mountain Caribou, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Dall’s Sheep, Stone’s Sheep and Roosevelt Elk. The diseases of concern by National Parks and wildlife managers include: Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, M...

The "precautionary principle" originated as a strategy to deal with possible risks where scientific understanding/study was not yet complete (i.e. nano technology and genetically modified foods.) However, the precautionary principle (precautionary approach) has also been used by policy makers to justify discretionary decisions in situations where there is a possibility of harm from making a certain decision when they deem there is inadequate scientific knowledge. Why Should I Care? The danger is that a precautionary (no risk) principle/approach fails to recognize there is no such thing as zero risk. For example, a scientific risk assessment recognizes the existence of "risk" and attempts to quantify it. The objective is to determine the likelihood of something happening and the consequences. Although science can provide a high level of confidence it can never provide absolute certainty. The precautionary principle places an impossible burden of proof on the us...

Canadian hypothetical risk assessments have been and are being used as a basis for banning pack llamas on public lands by various government agencies. Do they "pass muster" and are they based on science? Let's take a closer look. It was stated during the August 5, 2021 BLM Virtual Meeting by BLM biologist (Jim Herriges) that BLM’s decision to prohibit pack llamas is based on Canadian hypothetical “Risk Assessments.”  I’d like to point out that the authors of these Canadian papers state (1) “…there is insufficient data available to clearly assess the role of camelids as a source of disease at this time…..” and (2) “Risks from camelids to wildlife in British Columbia remain hypothetical after this risk assessment, as no direct evidence was found to implicate camelids as sources of significant diseases in wildlife in BC or elsewhere.”  So by their own admission, the authors conclude camelid disease transmission is hypothetical and based on conjecture (not scie...

Endangered Activity - Llama Trekking on Public Lands  (Photo by Linda Nuechterlein) Background: As longtime camelid owners may recall, back in the mid 1990’s Canyonlands National Park (NPS-Utah) had proposed a camelid prohibition that was based on a perceived threat of disease transmission to wildlife. Consequently, the camelid owner/veterinary community at the time felt it had no other option than to initiate a lawsuit. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior was named as a defendant because NPS is a U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) agency. Faced with the lawsuit, NPS quickly changed its position and the disease issue was settled out of court exonerating camelids as a disease threat. Now, more than 20 years later, another DOI agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Alaska has decided to prohibit camelids in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on the basis that they are a disease threat to wildlife. Nothing has changed since the Canyonlands NPS lawsuit in that no s...

(Excerpt from comment to USFWS by Phil Nuechterlein) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is proposing a regulatory addition to 50 CFR § 36.39 (k) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) stating that all domestic camelids are prohibited. USFWS concerns that camelids present a disease risk to wildlife in ANWR are clearly misguided and lack scientific evidence. The USFWS proposal to ban pack llamas unfairly eliminates a user group based on the false and misleading portrayal of pack llamas as a "disease threat" to wildlife. Although we have never packed for profit, the USFWS policy implicating pack llamas as a disease threat unnecessarily harms all of us that use pack llamas, including commercial llama packing enterprises in the lower 48 states. Rumor mongering knows no regional boundaries. The references cited by the USFWS as a basis for this proposed camelid prohibition in ANWR are not credible nor have they been peer reviewed. These same references have been evalua...

As a recreational user of pack llamas on public lands in Alaska for almost 40 years, I have some very serious concerns with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed regulatory addition to 50 CFR § 36.39 (k) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) stating that all domestic camelids (pack llamas) are prohibited. I appreciate that ANWR is located in a pristine, tundra environment and understand that USFWS is mandated to protect the fragile environment, including the wildlife, in this unique refuge with a world class reputation. However, I must question USFWS’s logic (and motive) in banning the use of pack llamas within ANWR for a plethora of reasons which I will explain in my objection to this proposed rule.  For many years it has been widely recognized that llamas have far less impact on the environment than traditional pack stock such as mules and horses. Low environmental impact has long been recognized as the pack llama’s advantage over traditional pack animals....

Excerpt from Objection to ANWR Pack Llama by Scott Woodruff (Lander Llamas) Thank you for this one and only meaningful opportunity to publicly comment on the prohibition of pack llamas on our public land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) based upon the threat of disease transfer to wildlife. Specifically, the proposed regulation change to 50 CFR part 36 published in the Federal Register on April 9th, 2020 with relationship to cited justification in the 2015 Record of Decision (ROD) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP), and also new and recent submitted information and research outside of the ROD in 2015, by USFWS and ANWR. In 2010, the ANWR sent out a notice of intent to revise the 1988 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan (1988-CCP). The subsequent public development of the new document Artic Refuge Draft Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan (DCCP) was submitted for comments. In the D...

W e need your help again. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) recently announced that it is proposing to eliminate the pack llama (camelid) user group as part of a proposed regulation package. This is yet another attempt (in Alaska) to ban camelids as a disease threat to wildlife that is scientifically untenable. Because of your help earlier this year we were able to defeat a similar proposal by the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska (Chugach National Forest). Your participation will be critical in order to win this next battle. Again, this could set a precedent and adversely affect our future access on public lands throughout all of the United States if allowed to stand. Please object to this proposal by submitting a comment as per the instructions below.   Thank you in advance for your support! You can submit a comment on this to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in one of two ways described below. All comments need to be submitte...

See article "Pack Llamas Under Siege on Alaska's Public Lands." Lots of good info in this newsletter. Support LANA! LANA's Spring Newsletter Llama Association of North America (LANA) Spring newsletter cover photo features llamas on Lost Lake Trail (Alaska) with Resurrection Bay in the background.

We just received word from Chugach National Forest (CNF) late January 28th that announced CNF's decision to rescind the llama ban in Chugach National Forest. (See previous blog posts for background/history on CNF's LMP and llama ban.) The "Reviewing Officer's Response to Eligible Objections" to the Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan (CNFLMP) was attached to an email sent to objectors. In the Conclusion section David Schmid (CNF Regional Forester) states: "After considering the planning record, discussions with Forest staff, and the thoughtful dialog at the resolution meeting, I’ve decided to provide Forest Supervisor Schramm instructions to change FWWLGOAT-S (2) to the following: Personnel conducting Forest Service management actions or authorized activities (employees, contractors, cooperators, and special use permit holders) shall not use or keep domestic goats or sheep on National Forest System lands within the Chugach National Forest." (No...

The Chugach National Forest (CNF) "objections resolution meeting" took place during the afternoon of January 14, 2020 in Anchorage, Alaska. (See previous posts for background on CNF Llama Ban.) The purpose of the meeting was to discuss remedies regarding objections to restrictions on the use of llamas that are being imposed in the Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan (CNFLMP). Dave Schmid, Alaska Regional Forester (meeting facilitator) confirmed that this is our last opportunity to comment/object to the Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan which will be final in 2020. Meeting attendees representing the llama community in-state and out-of-state participated via teleconference and reiterated concerns to CNF staff that were previously expressed in their written objections which can be found here. https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/ReadingRoom?project=40816 . At issue is the restricted use of pack llamas in Chugach National Forest (the forest) based ...

UPDATE: CNF llama ban has been rescinded.  More at -   Victory! CNF Llama Ban Rescinded Chugach National Forest (CNF) "short circuited" the NEPA process by providing no pubic notice to eliminate commercial use of pack llamas based on a perceived disease threat to wild sheep and goats. Since CNF's ban identifies pack llamas as a disease threat, this opens the door to eliminate them for all uses (including recreational) in the future. The public process was "short circuited" because CNF did not include verbiage that banned llamas in their draft Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan that was open for public comment in 2018.  However, this pack llama ban was added to the Final Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan after the public comment period was over which effectively eliminated comment by the pack llama user group . Now the pack llama user group is faced with protesting the final CNF decision during the objection period. Your comments on p...