Tag: Bighorn Sheep
-
Domestic Sheep Threaten Wild Bighorns
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Ram. Photo George Wuerthner Bighorn sheep acquired their name for the large circular horns of the mature rams. They are strongly associated with mountain terrain, particularly steep hills and cliffs, which protect them against predators. They graze upon grasses and other plants. In general, bighorns are associated with drier parts of…
-
Bighorn sheep vs domestic sheep on public lands
Wild bighorn sheep once were found throughout the West. Roaming high alpine ridges of the Rockies to the badlands of the Dakotas to the deserts of Arizona and California, bighorns were adapted to a wide variety of climates and terrain and some estimate they numbered in two million or more animals. But these iconic western…
-
Conservation Groups Win Reprieve from Sheep Grazing on Government Lands
Boise, IDAHO – Conservation groups voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit against high-elevation domestic sheep grazing in the “Summer West Range of Centennial Mountains because the government has agreed not to graze again until it completes a full environmental review of the potential impacts of the activity. It has previously committed not to grazing in Summer East Range or on an adjacent Forest Service…
-
Groups File Notice of Intent to Sue Over Sheep Experiment Station.
Bozeman, MT. Today five conservation groups Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, Gallatin Wildlife Association and Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation sent the U.S. Department of Agriculture a notice of intent to sue for its failure to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the effects of sheep grazing on the U.S. Sheep Experiment…
-
Those Ranchers Will Get Rid of Those Nasty Bighorn Sheep One Way or Another
A fight is brewing over domestic sheep grazing in bighorn sheep habitat in Wyoming. The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance filed a lawsuit last year to protect the small Encampment herd of bighorn sheep from coming into contact with disease ridden domestic sheep which would likely kill the entire herd if contact between the two species were…
-
Bighorn sheep rider has been withdrawn by Mike Simpson.
The Idaho Statesman reports that Mike Simpson has withdrawn the rider which would have prevented the BLM and US Forest Service from addressing the ongoing issue of disease transmission from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep and would have bypassed years of analysis and a long public process which generated 15,000 public comments. The rider would…
-
A good week for bighorn sheep in Idaho. Simpson changes his tune. (UPDATED)
This week there have been two significant developments for bighorn sheep in Idaho that relate to the closing of domestic sheep grazing in occupied bighorn habitat. Payette Decision Moves Forward First, in an unusual ruling from the bench, Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled that the closing of three domestic sheep allotments on the Payette National…
-
Pneumonia Confirmed in Cinnabar Mountain Bighorn Sheep
Very bad news from just outside of Yellowstone National Park. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: Pneumonia Confirmed in Cinnabar Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: Pneumonia Confirmed in Cinnabar Mountain Bighorn Sheep Friday, December 09, 2011 Fish & Wildlife – Region 3 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks confirms the discovery of…