Bighorn Sheep

  • Public land ranchers concerned about candidate’s position that public lands ought be managed to preserve Idaho’s wildlife heritage Idaho’s Gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred, challenger to “Butch” Otter, recently drew a distinction between wildlife management on public versus private land, standing behind Idaho sportsmen on the bighorn sheep issue : Candidate’s Comments Cause for Concern –…

  • Western Watersheds Project’s litigation and recent scientific studies changing the playing field. Across the West domestic sheep operations threaten the viability of bighorn sheep populations and have caused serious declines because of the diseases they carry. Last winter there were ten populations that suffered from pneumonia outbreaks and many more are suffering the lingering effects…

  • A new study in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases confirms, unequivocally, that the domestic sheep disease Mannheimia haemolytica kills bighorn sheep after the two species co-mingle. This paper has been rumored for the last several months and was cited in the recent Payette National Forest decision to close 60% of sheep grazing allotments on the…

  • I posted this at the end of August. It’s time to get your comments in. Don’t color outside the lines The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has released its Draft Bighorn Sheep Management Plan which essentially draws lines around existing bighorn sheep populations and prevents recovery to historical habitat. This is a big problem…

  • Don’t color outside the lines The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has released its Draft Bighorn Sheep Management Plan which essentially draws lines around existing bighorn sheep populations and prevents recovery to historical habitat. This is a big problem because the bighorn population has been in steep decline due to diseases spread by domestic…

  • Herd lives close to site of previous die-offs After last winter’s disastrous die-off of bighorn sheep in Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Washington State it seemed the news couldn’t get any worse for bighorn sheep. Well, today comes news of another outbreak of pneumonia in a heard of 100 bighorn sheep east of Hamilton, Montana. Officials…

  • The Payette National Forest will be releasing its Record of Decision on July 30th After several years of litigation, the decision on how to manage domestic sheep on the Payette National Forest to maintain viability of bighorn sheep populations will be released on July 30. Several options were considered but few actually meet the so…

  • Wyoming herd is a big tourist attraction The Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Locatable Mineral Withdrawal may be extended to protect bighorn sheep habitat from development for another 20 years. The herd there is estimated to be about 1,000 bighorn. Feds propose extending minerals extraction ban on bighorn habitat. Casper Star Tribune

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