PINEDALE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) confirmed the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on the Muddy Creek Feedground on Monday.

Since its detection at the Horse Creek Feedground 2025, the spread of the disease has been anticipated. According to the press release, this is the fifth feedground in the state to confirm a positive CWD case.

The feedground is located near Pinedale in Elk Hunt Area 98. In 2025, an elk tested positive for CWD in the Horse Creek Feedground south of Jackson, and another case was detected in the Scab Creek Feedground. WGFD has since conducted extensive surveillance for sick and dead elk in feedground areas and collected CWD samples, as the fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose requires continuous monitoring to understand its impacts.

According to WGFD, supplemental winter feeding “has occurred for more than a century.” Twenty-one feedgrounds exist in northwest Wyoming alone.

Hannah is a Buckrail Staff Reporter and freelance web developer and designer who has called Jackson home since 2015. When she’s not outside, you can probably find her eating a good meal, playing cribbage, or at one of the local yoga studios. She’s interested in what makes this community tick, both from the individual and collective perspective.