JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AP) — Conservationists are worried an elk-feeding operation near a Wyoming river is allowing a deadly wildlife disease to spread.

Conservationists filed a lawsuit Monday against the Bridger-Teton National Forest's decision to allow the state to gather the animals at the Alkali Feedground by giving them elk hay.

The conservationists say if just one elk with chronic wasting disease comes to the feed ground, it "would likely" result in its transmission to the National Elk Refuge and the Jackson Elk Herd.

Bridger-Teton officials declined comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Past lawsuits targeting elk feeding in northwest Wyoming have failed to stop the wildlife management practice that's been entrenched in the region for a century.

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