The LANL study is partly in response to long-standing tribal concerns about the potential for animals becoming contaminated by radiological and chemical wastes. "This is something that has long been part of internal discussions among the four Pueblos adjacent to laboratory land," said New Mexico's Executive Director of Indian Affairs Regis Pecos. "Until recently, the Indian people have not had the forum or the avenue to be more effective in communicating their concerns. A few years ago, however, there was a move among the Pueblos to pursue some kind of formal relationship with the DOE (U.S. Dept. of Energy) that would lead to independent examination of the cumulative effects of laboratory activities on the air, water, vegetation, and, of course, on elk and deer -- the whole life cycle in that area." In addition to addressing the concerns of the Pueblos, the study will also aid in meeting state mandates for environmental protection and Dept. of Energy orders 5400.1 and 5400.5, which refer to contaminants in vertebrate organisms.
Los Alamos
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico was the development site of the world's first atomic and hydrogen bombs in the 1940s. Today, it is the premier center for advanced nuclear and space research -- operated by the University of California for DOE. The facility is surrounded by 43 square miles of restricted land in the middle of the Pajarito Plateau -- a 250-square-mile maze of forested and grassland canyons surrounded by higher forests and mountains. From the high mountain conifer forests in the West, the region drops down to woodlands and plateau grasslands, and seasonal streams that run to marshlands bordering the Rio Grande in the East. Wildlife include mountain lion, bear, coyote, deer and Rocky Mountain elk. It is mostly the elk that come down from the high forests to winter on LANL lands.
Call For Enviromental Studies
In 1995, U.S. representatives from New Mexico called for a regional committee to study the problem associated with increasing numbers of elk on the Pajarito Plateau and to develop long-term plans for wildlife management and environmental protection. The committee is made up of representatives from the LANL Ecology Group, DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, the New Mexico Dept. of Fish and Game (NMDFG), Bandelier National Monument, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The project is a cooperative effort among the agencies, each contributing expertise to specific areas.
The LANL Ecology Group uses GIS, GPS and satellite imagery to develop predictive models of migratory patterns and land-use habits. They evaluate radio-nuclide concentrations in elk and analyze the risk factors for excess cancer fatalities in humans who eat meat from elk that have absorbed these elements. The group also calculates the impact of future LANL projects on elk herds within laboratory boundaries. Group tasks include monitoring seasonal and daily movements of elk on the Pajarito Plateau -- LANL and Pueblo lands in particular -- and conducting radiological studies to determine where and how the animals are contacting radioactive wastes. Postmortem analysis of tissue samples from tracked elk are studied at LANL, and state laboratories analyze tissue for radio nuclides and animal diseases, including bluetongue, brucellosis and tuberculosis.
LANL Environmental Scientist Phil Fresquez said the sampling of elk tissues for contaminants has been ongoing since the late 1970s. "Since then, we've analyzed three to four roadkill elk a year, from LANL land as well as from areas 80 to 100 miles distant. Because of the concerns of the Pueblos, however, we are now trying to get as much data as we can. Last year we processed 10 roadkill elk. We are also looking at foods -- eggs, milk, fish, honey -- that we eat from the laboratory area. Under the Foodstuffs Monitoring Project, we collect game and domestic animals, goats, chickens -- everything from LANL land that is eaten is tested for potential contaminants. This is ongoing, every year."
Although previous studies have shown no increase of cancer among people eating elk that have ranged on laboratory land, LANL Biologist Kathy Bennett said earlier findings were not entirely accepted by the public. "The main criticism we had from our surveillance program of sampling elk was that we could not absolutely guarantee how much time the elk had spent on laboratory lands; but now, with the GPS collars, we can say how long they have been on laboratory land and around what facilities. Satellite tracking will help us to address that one question."
Satellite Tracking
To develop models of migration patterns and land-use habits, the group monitored the movements of different elk herds for a minimum of 12 months by using satellite tracking and GIS mapping. Started in April 1996, the project involves trapping a minimum of 15
animals and fitting each with a collar containing a miniaturized GPS, radio transmitter, antennae and lithium batteries capable of powering the units for up to 18 months. To trap the animals without causing harm, field crews set up collapsible clover traps baited with apples and alfalfa, and placed them near radioactive-waste burial sites, effluent
outfalls and off of laboratory lands.
After the trapped animal is calmed and hooded, team members place the tracking collar around its neck, take blood samples, measure height and length, calculate weight, and check teeth wear for age. The procedure is completed and the animal is released in less than 30 minutes.
The collar tracking systems are individually programmed to record GPS fixes once every 23 hours. The stored data -- lat/long coordinates; GMT in hours, minutes and seconds; and error-correction codes -- are uplinked every three to four days to an Argos satellite. From there, the data is sent via ground station to LANL to be post-processed, entered into a GIS, and overlaid on a basemap. Attributes and thematic layers can be added to the map, depending on who the audience is and what they want to see. The group uses ArcView and the extension "Spatial Analyst" as a query and display tool. ArcInfo with the "Grid" extension is used for more complex analysis. ArcView runs on a PC, and ArcInfo is on a UNIX platform. To evaluate habitat use and availability, ecologists overlay elk positions onto LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) images of vegetation land cover.
Accuracies
According to a preliminary report by the Ecology Group, the mean overall reception rate of the GPS collars was 70 percent. Factors affecting reception include animal movement at the time of the fix, shifted collars, interference with the antennae, signals being blocked when the animals were in the pine forests and excessive cloud cover, which also introduces fix errors. Furthermore, since the first generation of GPS collars calculated fixes only to the minute, raw GPS data was unusable. To overcome the problem, the group calculated error rates through a ground-truthing process; test collars were placed in fixed locations at approximately the same height off the ground as collars worn by the animals. Readings from the test collars were then compared with those of hand-held GPS units at the same locations. However, even with error rates applied, initial accuracies were not much better than 120 meters. It was not until early 1997 that collars capable of calculating coordinates to the second enabled the group to apply post-processed differential correction. The new process improved accuracy to within 20 meters.
Preliminary Findings
Following the 12-month tracking period, the group evaluated habitat use and availability, analyzed migratory patterns and developed models for both. The patterns reflected predictable seasonal behavior of elk; in the early spring, the animals come down from winter ranges in the high forests to the lower plateau grasslands and remain there until the start of the dry season in early fall, when they again return to higher elevations. Fresquez said, however, that many elk are now remaining on LANL land and in Bandelier National Monument throughout the year, especially cows with calves.
Fresquez said several factors have contributed to the concentration of animals in the area. "Large forest fires over the past 20 years have greatly expanded the foraging areas here; the climate is more temperate than in the mountains, and both Bandelier and LANL are off limits to hunters."
Since elk are especially important to the economic and cultural life of the Pueblos, as food sources as well as symbolic ties to a traditional way of life, the resulting scarcity of elk in the surrounding mountains has become a major concern for Native Americans in the area. "Until very recently," said Pecos, "that entire area of mountain ranges were historically and traditionally among the best hunting grounds for the Pueblos."
Search For Solutions
LANL Biologist James Biggs said a committee of representatives from LANL, DOE, the park service, the forest service, the fish and game department, the Pueblos and the counties is currently exploring solutions to the overpopulation of elk in the area. "We are examining what the public views as appropriate, what the agencies see as effective, and what we all see as economically feasible. We are evaluating several options: increasing the number of hunting permits in the adjacent property; removing animals and transplanting them elsewhere; even allowing hunting in Bandelier, but that would require Congressional approval."
The LANL group has also identified areas around potential contaminant release sites where elk forage. When the collars were recovered, a selected number of animals that had spent most of the time around these sites, plus one that ranged off site, were put down for postmortem examination. LANL and state laboratories are independently analyzing tissue samples for radio nuclides and animal diseases. They are also analyzing the risk factor for cancer among humans who eat elk meat containing radio nuclides.
Fresquez said the analysis of collared elk remains to be completed. However, the group has already analyzed tissue samples from 20 roadkill elk on lab property. "Most radio nuclides that we found in the muscle and bone tissue from these animals are within background concentrations (the naturally-occurring background radiation of a particular area). Even elk 100 miles from the lab contained radio nuclides picked up from background concentrations in those areas. The levels of radio nuclides in elk tissues from roadkill on laboratory land are comparable to the distant background concentrations. So the risk from ingesting these tissues is trivial."
In addition to studies focusing on elk population and contaminants in game species that are hunted on and off laboratory land, LANL also has an ongoing Environmental Restoration Program that includes remediation of solid-waste storage and burial sites. Started in 1993, the program is currently characterizing all of the sites on laboratory land and remediating those considered to be a risk.
"This is an ongoing process; one that will require a large cooperative effort from all the adjoining agencies for it to be successful," said Biggs. Study results from the LANL group, including the final risk analysis, are expected by the end of fiscal year 1998. The information will be used in the formulation of environmental and wildlife management plans that not only address concerns of the Pueblos but also conform to federal and state mandates -- DOE orders 5400.1 and 5400.5; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Clean Water Act; the New Mexico Water Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Bill McGarigle is a writer specializing in communication and information technology.
January Table of Contents
