Regarding Easy45's post of Dr Houston as a "forestry specialist," I thought I might chime in because I am familiar with those circumstances; and, too, they are a matter of record at UT's Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, where he is a Professor of forest/wildlife Ecology. Dr Houston has a BS in Wildlife and another BS in Forestry. His Masters is in Forest Management with a minor in Wildlife. His PhD is in Ecology, and evenly divided between wildlife and forestry, with both Dr Mike Pelton, the foremost bear biologist in the world, and Dr Jim Byford, a nationally known wildlife biologist, on his committee. Dr Houston has more than 100 peer reviewed publications in wildlife and forestry, along with several hundred other publications and local/regional/national presentations across a wide range of wildlife/forestry/ecological issues. While he would be the very first to tell you he needs to know more about CWD and the Ames' herd, his qualifications do bring a bit more to the table than the moniker "forestry specialist" might tend to infer. CWD, its epidemiology, the herd, and the land are indeed an ecological system. At the moment, given his experience and expertise, he is attempting to bring together the interdisciplinary efforts needed at Ames, and by extension SW Tennessee and regionally, to initiate enduring CWD research prior to his retirement. Or, as he would say (and has said), "get people on this thing who are smarter than me." Once he leaves those efforts will, at least in some fashion, be likely to change.