Otter vetoes bill that called for killing bighorns

The Governor has vetoed SB1175 leaving SB1232 in its place.

Presumably SB1232 will pass the legislature and the Governor will sign it into law.

How much valuable time has been spent on this issue by the legislature, state and Federal agencies, interest groups and the Governor? Is this the best use of time in this failing economy where education, public health, and other budgets are being slashed leaving behind dysfunctional important agencies and programs? Vaccine for Children, coverage for cystic fibrosis patients over 18, and adult and travel immunizations are but a few examples of programs that have been cut. These programs actually save lives and these cuts will inevitably result in more illness and premature deaths among our most vulnerable citizens.

Sheep industry officials are admitting that if they are held accountable for their actions and how they treat public lands and wildlife, they will go out of business. Their operations are not viable, so as it is – without all the subsidies – they would collapse.

Again, here are subsidies received by wool growers affected by the likely changes on the Payette National Forest:

Soulen Livestock Co received payments totaling $1,010,401 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=009379239

Ron Shirts received payments totaling $214,707 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=008358031

Frank Shirts Jr received payments totaling $775,817 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=008376206

Guy M Carlson received payments totaling $110,307 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=008371346

The changes made that appear in the new bill SB1232 are smoke and mirrors. These changes do not address the real on the ground situation where bighorn sheep, especially rams, travel widely throughout the region and intermingle with domestic sheep then go on to intermingle with other bighorn sheep. This can go undetected due to poor management practices by the herders who often don’t understand the situation as they are immigrant laborers who can’t even speak English. This is not to say that these herders are in any way responsible for the situation but to say that many times they are just put in an untenable situation.

This also doesn’t address the issue of straying or lost sheep. Many times herders return from the season and unaccounted sheep are left behind on the range. These sheep may end up in bighorn sheep habitat. These situations have been documented on numerous occasions.

Otter vetoes bill that called for killing bighorns
Associated Press

Yet Another Bighorn Sheep Related Bill

Just introduced today.

A new bill was introduced this morning which appears to replace SB 1175.  The bill is virtually identical to SB 1175 except for the following changes:

S1232 F&G, bighorn sheep relocation

(E) The Idaho department of fish and game: (1) shall develop a state management plan to maintain a viable, self-sustaining population of bighorn sheep in Idaho; and (2) within one hundred twenty (120) days of the effective date of this act will cooperatively develop best management practices with permittees for their federal and state grazing allotments that include or adjoin core populations of bighorn sheep as determined by the department. Upon commencement of the implementation of best management practices, the director shall certify that the potential risk of disease transmission, if any, between bighorn and domestic sheep is acceptable for the viability of the bighorn sheep core population. The director’s certification shall continue for as long as the best management practices are implemented by the permittee. The director may also certify that the potential risk of disease transmission, if any, between bighorn and domestic sheep is acceptable for the viability of the bighorn sheep core population based upon a finding that other factors exist, including but not limited to previous exposure to pathogens that make separation between bighorn and domestic sheep unnecessary

This is the previous language from SB1175

(E) Should any bighorn sheep graze, stray or drift upon, or in close proximity to, any private, state or federal lands that have any domestic sheep use, or have any domestic sheep allotments administered by the bureau of land management, the U.S. forest service or the Idaho department of lands, the director shall relocate or control the bighorn sheep to ensure that appropriate separation between the bighorn sheep and the domestic sheep is maintained, unless the director certifies that the risk of disease transmission, if any, between the bighorn sheep and the domestic sheep is acceptable. This certification may be based upon:
(i) An agreement regarding a separation strategy between the bighorn sheep and the domestic sheep entered into by the owners of the domestic sheep and the director or his designee; or
(ii) A finding by the director that the bighorn sheep have already been exposed to certain pathogens that makes separation between the bighorn sheep and the domestic sheep unwarranted.

Update: Idaho Legislature considering a compromise to keep sheep collaboration alive
Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman

Otter must decide bighorn issue by Saturday

Is SB1175 a way to stall so that “research” can be done?

Bighorn Sheep Lamb © Ken Cole

More bighorn ‘the Earth is flat’ madness :

Otter must decide bighorn issue by Saturday – Rocky Barker – Letters from the West, Idaho Statesman

What he and other sheep ranchers really want is more research to determine not only if disease is spread from domestic sheep to wild sheep, which they dispute, but also how the bighorn are dying and if there are ways of stopping the deaths and allowing the bighorns to thrive and grow without forcing the ranchers off of federal lands. They see the bill as giving them time, though an opinion presented by the Idaho Attorney General’s office suggested the bill won’t change the state’s legal position.

Unfortunately, the post does little more than push sheepman talking points, failing to mention that there is very little controversy about the spread of disease from domestic sheep to wild sheep – and the subsequent death of bighorns – in the scientific community, or that the single pumped up (thanks to articles like this) voice of controversy that does exist comes from the President of the Woolgrowers Association.  So we’ll fill in a few of the gaps.

1. The Science

Let’s face it, domestic sheep diseases KILL bighorn sheep. You can read about this here:

A Review of Disease Related Conflicts Between Domestic Sheep and Goats and Bighorn Sheep

You may also read the abstract for an article in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases:
George, J.L.; Martin, D.J.; Lukacs, P.M.; Miller, M.W. In press. Epidemic Pasteurellosis in a bighorn sheep population coinciding with the appearance of a domestic sheep.

WAFWA Wild Sheep Report

You can also see a video segment on the issue here: Oregon Field Guide: Bighorn Pneumonia

And many more …

2. The Source(s)

I was told by Stan Boyd, lobbyist for the Idaho Woolgrowers, that his group has approached Senator Crapo for $900,000 to fund 3 years of Washington State University and University of Idaho research into what is killing bighorn sheep. The problem is that one of the primary scientists who does research at the University of Idaho, Caine Veterinary Teaching Center, in Caldwell is the President the Idaho Woolgrowers Association. Marie Bulgin has repeatedly testified that there is no evidence that domestic sheep diseases kill bighorn sheep in the wild. There is significant disagreement with this assertion as can be seen in this “Letter from David A. Jessup, CA Dept. of Fish and Game to Pattie Souchek, Forest Planner, Payette National Forest re Disease Transmission Between Domestic and Bighorn Sheep (July 31, 2006)”

The money has not been appropriated yet, but if it is, will any of it go to the University of Idaho, Caine Veterinary Teaching Center under the supervision of Marie Bulgin?

Another question that comes to mind, couldn’t that $900,000 be better spent on keeping the woolgrowers who will be affected by changes in USFS policy whole? It’s not as if they don’t receive subsidization as it is.

3. Follow the Money

Here are subsidies received by wool growers affected by the likely changes on the Payette National Forest:

Soulen Livestock Co received payments totaling $1,010,401 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=009379239

Ron Shirts received payments totaling $214,707 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=008358031

Frank Shirts Jr received payments totaling $775,817 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=008376206

Guy M Carlson received payments totaling $110,307 from 1995 through 2006
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=008371346

Will the (bighorn) “kill bill” mean an end of collaborationism in Idaho?

If Otter signs the bill, many think it will kill more than bighorn sheep-

It seems the preponderance of views in this forum is against collaboration in the Northern Rockies because it doesn’t work to really protect the outdoors and wildlife. Nevertheless, sitting down, holding hands, and talking has a lot or verbal support among Idaho’s media and many politicians.

Rocky Barker, who has in generally supported collabortion, has an article in today’s Statesman indicating the “kill bill” might put an end to this.

Will Idaho’s sheep bill mean the end of collaboration? Otter’s plan to bring all sides together to resolve conflicts over bighorns could collapse if he signs the measure. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman. Note: Ken Cole posted this link earlier as a comment.

Idaho Bighorn Sheep/Domestic Sheep Advisory Group Waiting for Governor Otter

If SB1175 is signed into law collaborative group may collapse

Bighorn sheep lamb © Ken Cole

Today there was meeting of the Idaho Bighorn Sheep/Domestic Sheep Advisory Group which ended early due to concerns of various groups about how Senate Bill 1175 will affect what the group does.

At the present time SB1175 is awaiting Governor Otter’s signature or veto and no-one is sure where he stands. The Idaho Bighorn Sheep/Domestic Sheep Advisory Group was formed at the behest of the Governor to address how to protect both bighorn sheep and domestic sheep but many in the group fear that SB1175 subverts this process and defines the policy of the State of Idaho without the input of all parties.

At the beginning of the meeting Senator Jeff Siddoway, a Republican sheep rancher from Terreton, Idaho and sponsor of SB 1175, was in attendance and was asked to describe what the bill does and to answer other questions. He seemed, to my eyes, uncertain about many of the aspects of the bill and could not answer some pointed questions about it such as what is meant by “appropriate separation” between bighorn sheep and domestic sheep and what exactly is meant by this passage:

It is the policy of the state of Idaho that existing sheep or livestock operations in the area of any bighorn sheep transplant or relocation are recognized and that the potential risk, if any, of disease transmission and loss of bighorn sheep when the same invade domestic livestock or sheep operations is accepted

Specifically, what is meant by transplanted or relocated sheep? Does this refer to sheep that will be transplanted or relocated or does it refer to sheep that have been transplanted or relocated.  Also, what does recognizing existing sheep or livestock operations in affected areas mean?

Marvel says bighorn bill helps his cause the most

“It correctly constructs in the public eye the clash of values we are experiencing”

Bighorn Sheep ©Ken Cole

Rocky Barker interviews Jon Marvel (my boss) of Western Watersheds Project about the recent bill SB 1175 which requires the IDFG to kill bighorn sheep that enter domestic sheep grazing allotments.

“The legislature is creating a trap for ranchers and the state as a whole,” Marvel said. “The state will begin to lose sovereignty over wildlife.”

Marvel says bighorn bill helps his cause the most
Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman

Payette National Forest Receives 15,000 Comments on Bighorn Sheep !

Bighorn lamb nibbles - © Ken Cole

Good gracious that’s a lot of comments !
Congrats to Idaho’s prized bighorn sheep and thanks to those that commented !

15,000 Comments Received on Bighorn Sheep Viability DSEIS – News Release, Payette National Forest

The bighorn sheep issue has been on the cutting edge of controversy in the state of Idaho. You can look back on our posts about wild sheep here:
Category > bighorn sheep

Sheepman/elk farmer Siddoway’s bill to kill bighorn in domestic sheep areas advances

Bill passes key State Senate committee 7-2-

The bighorn is in big trouble in Idaho with the population dropping from 6,500 in 1990 to about 3,500 today. One full curl bighorn ram can be worth as much as an entire band of sheep.

Bill would prohibit bighorns in sheep grazing areas. AP

In an April 4 article in the Lewiston Tribune (subscription only)reporters Bill Spence And Eric Barker wrote that Hells Canyon on the Idaho/Oregon/Washington border once had about 10,000 bighorn, but it has dwindled to just 875 today.

Almost all biologists believe that the presence of domestic sheep near bighorn results in lethal pneumonia for the bighorn. A number of courts cases in Idaho federal courts the last several years favoring bighorn has caused a furious reaction among sheep operators.

I find it amazing that wolves get so much attention when it is bighorn in danger, not elk, although elk farms are a likely danger to elk due to the advancing front of chronic wasting disease and other pathogens.
– – – – –
Note that yesterday, Siddoway abstained from voting on the bill.

Another Idaho Anti-Bighorn Attempt Falls

Rancher and Idaho state senator Jeff C. Siddoway

Yesterday I posted a review (with a little help from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office) about Idaho Senate Bill 1124, an anti-wildlife bill sponsored by rancher Monty Pearce that seeks to punish bighorn-sheep conservation efforts.

Today, the Idaho state Senate Resources & Environment Committee considered another anti-bighorn sheep attempt.  RS18882 was draft legislation, introduced to the committee by another domestic sheep rancher and Idaho state senator Jeff C. Siddoway.

Idaho not liable for sheep rancher losses – AP

RS18882 :

provides that domestic sheep and livestock operators will be held harmless from adverse impacts by the State of Idaho; provides for control of certain bighorn by the Director; and the shared veterinarian program between IDA and IDFG be dissolved.

The exact language of the legislation is not available because the draft legislation was rejected by the committee before becoming a bill.

Idaho Anti-Bighorn Bill May Backfire

A Review of Idaho Senate Bill 1124

Bighorn Sheep in the East Fork Salmon River Canyon. Photo © Ken Cole

Earlier I wrote about a member of the Idaho legislator and livestock rancher, Monty Pearce, who has recently taken aim at bighorn sheep conservation and restoration efforts in response to a sheepman’s call for special treatment from the Idaho legislature.  This after the Payette National Forest’s proposal to drastically reduce his permitted domestic sheep grazing on your federal public land.

Rancher Pearce’s legislation, Idaho Senate Bill 1124, seeks to bring to a halt the Idaho Department of Fish & Game’s efforts to transplant and relocate bighorn sheep – and potentially most big game – in the state of Idaho.

Ironically, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office answered some legal questions that suggest Idaho Senate Bill 1124 might be just as likely to backfire, removing a federal obligation the Forest currently has to consult with the state over wildlife issues.

Group sees ‘violation of trust’

WILDLANDS CONSERVANCY: It brokered a BLM deal to protect the desert acres that are now being opened to development.

Group sees ‘violation of trust’ By JANET ZIMMERMAN The Press-Enterprise

“Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep” video – Colorado Division of Wildlife

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Bighorn battle could doom sheep ranchers

Idaho Sheep Ranchers are Struggling Against Reality.

The law and science are not on their side so they are pressuring the State to come up with a solution to protect them.

Bighorn Sheep in the East Fork Salmon River Canyon. Photo © Ken Cole

On Thursday February 26th the second meeting of what is being called the “Bighorn Sheep/Domestic Sheep Advisory Group” was held in Boise. At this meeting there was no discussion of bighorn sheep (BHS) and domestic sheep (DS) issues just introductions and discussions about process and ground rules.

These issues were described as “non-negotiables”

*Group is advisory, no regulatory or legal authority.
*Idaho wants bighorn sheep and domestic sheep.
*Group is collaborative. Will develop collaborative recommendations & Products.

It appears that science and reality are against the goal of maintaining viable bighorn sheep populations as well as viable domestic sheep operations.

Domestic sheep and goats carry diseases which have little effect on their own health but can kill bighorn sheep and there is a consensus among biologists that this is true although a particular pathogen has not been identified in every case. It could be a single pathogen, multiple pathogens, or a suite of pathogens that kill BHS but it has been documented on many occasions that contact with DS results in the death of BHS by pneumonia. In some cases the disease kills animals in all age classes.

Call Idaho legislators about anti-bighorn sheep bills

Pete Zimowsky, of the Idaho Statesman, speaks out against the anti-bighorn sheep bills.

“In my 40 or so years of hunting and fishing in the West and covering wildlife issues, I have never seen such anti-wildlife bills. I think hunters, wildlife photographers, jet-boat and rafting outfitters and conservationists should be outraged by these bills and contact Idaho legislators.”

He’s not alone in feeling this way.

Call Idaho legislators about anti-bighorn sheep bills
Pete Zimowsky, Idaho Statesman.

Today, February 26, 2009, Bighorn Sheep/Domestic Sheep Advisory Working Group Meeting

Meeting to decide the fate of bighorn sheep on public lands.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep © Ken Cole

There will be a meeting in Boise on Thursday to discuss formation of a policy which will more likely try to save sheep operators rather than the remaining bighorn sheep in Idaho. The interim policy calls for killing bighorn sheep that come into direct contact with domestic sheep but sheepherders want more.

I encourage anyone who might be interested to attend this meeting.

TO: Previous Participants in Governor’s BHS/DS Working Group and other interested parties
FR: Alison Squier (facilitator) on behalf of Brian Oakey and Jim Unsworth
RE: Draft Agenda for February 26, 2009 Idaho BHS/DS Advisory Group meeting

Hello everyone. Here is a draft agenda for the upcoming February 26, 2009 Idaho Bighorn Sheep (BHS) / Domestic Sheep (DS) Advisory Group meeting.

Here are some questions for you to consider to help you prepare to participate in the February 26th meeting activities (we will be discussing these topics and others in the context of developing a charter for the group):

— How do you define collaboration?
— What are you hoping the Idaho BHS/DS Advisory Group process can achieve — and in what time frame?
— What group guidelines and/or principles would help the BHS/DS Advisory Group to be most effective?
— What do you need from other participants in this process?
— What would you need to see in order to consider this a legitimate and worthwhile process?
— What do you think the outcomes of the process should be e.g., consensus recommendations; unanimous with one, two or three dissenters; majority/minority recommendations, or another approach?

Where: Idaho State Department of Agriculture, 2270 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise (Click for map)
When: Thursday, February 26, 2009 – 10 am to 4 pm (working lunch on site)

Here are the associated documents:
022609_BHS.DS.AG_Draft_Agenda.pdf
092308_Draft_BHS-DS_Meeting_Summary2.doc

Idaho Legislature Takes Aim at Bighorn Sheep

Rancher & state senator Monty Pearce

Idaho state senator Monty J. Pearce, a rancher from New Plymouth, has introduced legislation that would effectively prevent transplant and relocation of bighorn sheep into the state of Idaho.  The legislation also instructs state managers to “relocate or control” bighorns that come into proximity of “any private, state or federal lands that have any domestic sheep use, or any domestic sheep allotments administrated by the bureau of land management or U.S. forest service”.

Idaho Senate Bill 1124

Idaho Statehouse representative for the Idaho Conservation League, Courtney Washburn, responds to the proposed legislation:

It is my belief that bills like SB 1124 are a result of the actions [Western Watersheds Project] is taking.  This has more to do with revenge against [Western Watersheds Project] than actual wildlife issues.  It is unfortunate that the intervention of the Idaho legislature in this issue will likely be harmful to wildlife but it is a consequence of the approach Western Watersheds has taken on this issues.

Help Save Wild Bighorn Sheep

Your Comments Are Needed by March 3, 2009!

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Lamb © Ken Cole

Wild bighorn sheep are native to North America, and once numbered in the millions. But their numbers have drastically declined to just a few thousand. The biggest threat wild bighorns face is disease from domestic sheep.

Most experts agree that when wild and domestic sheep come into contact while grazing on the public lands, the wild sheep get sick and often die. What’s killing bighorns, they say, is a pathogen that is carried by domestic sheep. Bighorns with this pathogen can die or transmit a pneumonia-like disease to other bighorns. Lambs are especially vulnerable. Expert biologists and wildlife agencies recommend separating bighorn sheep from domestic sheep to minimize disease risk to the wild sheep.

Faced with declining Rocky Mountain Bighorn populations in Hells Canyon and the Salmon River regions of Idaho, the Payette National Forest is taking public comment on how to protect bighorn sheep from domestic sheep. Four ranchers have commercial grazing permits for about 20,000 head of domestic sheep on nearly 500,000 acres of public land in the Payette. To protect bighorn sheep, the Payette has proposed cutting nearly 60% of the public acres grazed by domestic sheep (called Alternative 7G).

Sheepherder Wants Special Treatment from Idaho Legislature.

Weiser sheep rancher tells Idaho lawmakers Forest Service threatens his livelihood
Brian Murphy – Idaho Statesman

Sheepherder Ron Shirts has appealed to the Idaho Senate to intervene and give him special consideration above the interests of the public, wildlife, and the Nez Perce Tribe. Shirts complains that his livelihood is threatened because the Payette National Forest is not living up to an agreement made in 1997 when bighorn sheep were transplanted to Hells Canyon. The article fails to mention that this agreement did not include the Nez Perce Tribe who still hold treaty rights to grazing and hunting in the area which supersede those of Shirts and other sheepherders.

Video on Utah big game transplants

I think moose have been the biggest success story in Utah-

This video is a 5-minute overview of big game transplants in Utah from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Bighorn Sheep Rule Stirs Debate in West

Mark Rey recently issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) requiring the Forest Service to test bighorn sheep for disease before the federal government allows states to transplant wild sheep on Forest lands.  As one might guess, this move chafes at state wildlife managers’ long-held claim to exclusive management of wildlife. It’s angering bighorn advocates & environmentalists too !       

Bighorn Sheep Rule Stirs Debate in West – Wall Street Journal

Bush admin screws bighorn sheep

Mark Rey orders APHIS testing of bighorn sheep reintroductions-

This is a slap at Western Watersheds Project for shutting down disease spreading domestic sheep operations in bighorn territory of Idaho.

It is also another attempt to try to subordinate Forest Service authority over wildlife to APHIS, the livestock friendly agency that should concentrate on foreign pests, not native wildlife.

Fortunately Mark Rey, another Bush Administration plunderer, will soon be gone. He is trying to create a controversy like the bison/brucellosis controversy where bighorn sheep become the problem instead of livestock.

Bighorn sheep don’t bring diseases. Domestic sheep bring diseases.

Link to story from Wilderness Sportsman. Bush admin screws bighorn sheep

Payette National Forest proposes drastic reduction in sheep !

There is a public meeting meeting Monday, Oct. 6 in Boise on the proposal.

A supplemental draft environmental statement just released by the Payette National Forest on bighorn sheep viability proposes a 61% reduction in domestic sheep allotment acreage to separate bighorn and domestic sheep, thus clearly protecting the bighorn from disease transmission of their domestic cousins.

A public information meeting Monday in Boise begins 6 PM. The meeting, which runs until 9 PM is at the Holiday Inn Airport 3300 Vista.

The management proposed  by the Payette NF is just the opposite direction from that proposed by the State of Idaho’s government, which is led by its noise by the sheep growers lobby. Rather proactive separation, the Idaho government wants to kill bighorn that get are approached by domestic sheep, or which come into contact with domestic sheep of their own accord.

Domestic sheep carry a variety of diseases that are transmitted to their wild cousins. Only brief contact with them can cause the loss of an entire bighorn sheep herd (usually from pneumonia).

This forum has had a large number of articles and discussion on this issue. To find them, go the “categories” and click on “bighorn sheep.”

Grazing may cease to protect bighorns

Grazing domestic sheep in bighorn habitat exposes bighorn to deadly disease and massive die-offs.  Western Watersheds Project successfully brought this point to the Payette National Forest via federal court winning a temporary halt to grazing domestic sheep in the critical bighorn habitat of Hells Canyon and the Salmon River.  Because of these decisions, the Payette National Forest is amidst an environmental review of domestic sheep grazing in bighorn habitat on the Forest, in its released draft EIS the Forest is finally proposing to end domestic sheep grazing in these critical bighorn habitats.

Grazing may cease to protect bighorns – Idaho Statesman

Payette Forest bighorn sheep decision expected out soon

Rocky Barker blogs about the bighorn sheep issue in Idaho.  

Payette Forest bighorn sheep decision expected out soon – Letters from the West 

But the ranchers who still run sheep are a hardy and dedicated bunch. They don’t want to give up a long family tradition. In fact, they want to pass it down to their kids.

It sounds nice, and of course this narrative of “family rancher” remains the party-line in Western states – incessantly chimed at agency meetings, hearings, other official gatherings, among politicians and echoed with implicit tones of admiration in regional (and especially local) media outlets.  But when one digs deeper we find a much different “family tradition”  involved in the business of running sheep on federal public lands in Idaho (and other western states).  Avid outdoors-folk see it.  The sheepman affected by the Payette Forest’s draft environmental impact statement run their business hiring others, in large part immigrants who are exploited by way of pay woefully below minimum wage ~ at the very least. 

And the bighorn…

Wyoming bighorns in decline.

Wyoming bighorns in decline. Casper Star Tribune. By Chris Merrill

The primary cause is domestic sheep. If you want bighorns, you can’t have sheep in the area or even travelling through it.

Politicized IDFG: Official gets demoted for “a number of factors”

The message to employees is clear at Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) – when it comes to development projects on public lands that threaten wildlife – keep your mouth shut.

David Parrish, Magic Valley regional supervisor for IDFG former Magic Valley regional supervisor for IDFG, has a problem – a political problem.  Parrish took a demotion after writing a Letter to the Editor suggesting that the China Mountain windfarm project south of Twin Falls “will have negative repercussions on Idaho’s wildlife” responding to the paper’s endorsement of the project and suggesting that they wait until the consequences are understood before making such an endorsement.

Magic Valley Fish and Game supervisor demoted – Times-News

Update  . . .  more August 8. F&G supervisor suddenly demoted. Agency touts speak-with-one-voice policy. By Greg Stahl. Idaho Mountain Express Staff Write

Lawmakers call Parrish’s letter about wind farm ‘inappropriate’

Do bighorn sheep roam Idaho’s rugged Pioneer Mountains!

Do bighorn sheep roam the Pioneers? Project seeks to determine if these elusive mountain climbers occupy rugged range. By Jason Kauffman. Idaho Mounain Express.

Fish and Game kills bighorn to prevent disease.

The first bighorn sheep ram was killed last Tuesday near Riggins, Idaho under the new Idaho policy to keep bighorn and domestic sheep and goats apart.

Fish and Game kills bighorn to prevent disease Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman.

Arizona Game and Fish: confusing and error-filled statements about bighorn and desert cougars at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

If you are not familiar with Kofa, it is huge, almost 700,000 acres.

However, the bighorn have been struggling there, but their numbers are now increasing, a fact the AZ F & G ignored as they announced, but may not honor, a one-year moratorium on removal of desert cougars in the area (perhaps 3 are left).

Blog on the issue.

From PEER. Arizona Game Agency Scapegoats Cougars For Bighorn Travails

Just as So. Calif. bighorn stage comeback, Bush Administration proposes cutting their critical habitat in half

Bighorns facing smaller habitat.  San Diego Union Tribune

Groups unhappy with Idaho Fish and Game’s bighorn plan

Groups unhappy with Idaho Fish and Game’s bighorn plan. By Sven Berg. South Idaho Press.

The plan was forced on Idaho Fish and Game by politicians and domestic sheep interests. If anyone thinks Idaho will do a good job managing wolves, look at the bighorn sheep issue (an animal everyone likes except for some livestock interests).

I remains my opinion that the livestock industry hates all wildlife.

Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Sheep Grazing in Yellowstone Ecosystem

For years the U.S. Sheep Experimental Station, headquartered at Dubois, Idaho (not Dubois, Wyoming) has been grazing sheep in the top of the Centennial Mountains and elsewhere in the general area, and with no environmental analysis.

After yet another successful lawsuit by Western Watersheds and the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Advocates for the West, they have agreed to do their first environmental analysis.

I recently found out they winter the sheep at the base of Lemhi Mountains in high semi-arid country. I had wondered since 1972, when I first went there, why this country looked so beaten out come spring.

Ralph Maughan
_____________________

For Immediate Release, February 20, 2008

Contact:

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 534-0360
Jon Marvel, Western Watersheds Project, (208) 788-2290
Todd Tucci, Advocates for the West, (208) 342-7024

Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Sheep Grazing in Yellowstone Ecosystem: U.S. Sheep Experiment Station Agrees to Conduct Environmental Analysis

Boise, Idaho – The Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project have reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in eastern Idaho to resolve a lawsuit filed last summer. The settlement requires the U.S. Sheep Station to analyze the environmental effects of the sheep grazing under the National Environmental Policy Act and to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the impacts of the sheep grazing on threatened and endangered species. The Sheep Station is part of the Agricultural Research Service within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The presence of these thousands of domestic sheep, and management actions taken on their behalf, harms sensitive and endangered native wildlife such as Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, lynx, gray wolves, and grizzly bears – and yet these impacts have never been examined on the thousands of acres that are directly managed by the U.S. Sheep Station in southeastern Idaho and southwestern Montana. Analysis of impacts on the even larger tracts of national forest and Bureau of Land Management public lands is decades out of date and was cursory.

Rocky Barker: Bighorn sheep strategy won’t resolve bitter controversy

Barker writes about Idaho Fish and Game’s decision to continue its policy to move or kill bighorn sheep that have contact with domestic sheep.

My view is the woodgrowers are getting more publicity than is good for them, but there yet needs to be some national news attention on this. The woolgrowers are also getting overconfident. Change is coming.

Idaho F&G will move to kill bighorns to keep them from mixing with sheep

F&G will move or kill bighorns to keep them from mixing with sheep. Interim strategy to prevent domestic herds from passing disease to wild ones has woolgrowers’ support but draws fire from sportsmen, Nez Perce and environmentalists. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.

So the outrage forced upon Idaho Fish and Game has been officially announced. This is basically how the state’s wolf policy was created too, and by many of the same lobbyists.

“The buffer zones, let’s call them extermination zones, are to be determined without public comment,” [Jon] Marvel [of Western Watersheds Project] said. “Even if you thought they were a good idea, creating them with secret meetings between ranchers and Fish and Game is wrong when it affects wildlife owned by all Idahoans.”

Where does self-styled “Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife-Idaho,” stand on the “let’s-kill-bighorn-sheep” to appease woodgrowers plan?

Bighorn advocates butt heads

This is a long summary of where the bighorn sheep controversy in Idaho stands and who is saying what. I think it’s a useful article for bringing folks up to date.

Bighorn advocates butt heads. By Lynea Newcomer and Kathleen Turner. The Wood River Journal

Idaho Conservation League scolds Otter for bighorn sheep policy

ICL scolds Otter for bighorn sheep policy. Environmental group calls it a ‘top down approach’. By Matt Christensen
Times-News writer.

The governor’s bighorn sheep policy is supposed by announced Feb. 15.

Bill banning elk shooting farms introduced. Idaho state lawmakers say bill has no chance of passing

Here’s the story, but the interesting thing is why it has no chance of passing.

It’s because of the dominance of livestock lobbyists in Idaho. It won’t pass for the same reason the legislators rail and rave about wolves. The wolves are a diversion to keep hunters from seeing the privatization of wildlife in favor of lazy, Dick Cheney kind of “hunters.” It is also to wipe out the news about how the woolgrowers want to kill of most of Idaho’s bighorn sheep so to expand their disease ridden domestic sheep operations.

Idaho Fish and Game slaps at Jon Marvel. Is their account credible?

This has been in the news the last two days. I didn’t put the story up early because I knew Brian Ertz was right there when this alleged incident took place, and had all the details. He told me about it the day after the wolf meeting. At the time, I thought “end of story” — a F & G commissioner ignores public comment and doesn’t like to be questioned.

What a surprise when 6 weeks later, Jon Marvel, who did insist on some answers from the commissioner, was accused of some sort of assault or improper touching of the commissioner!

My speculation is that IF & G’s action had nothing to do with the wolf hearing in Hailey, and everything to do with Western Watershed Projects legal efforts, media efforts, and administrative efforts to derail the attack of the woolgrowers on Idaho’s bighorn sheep herds. Idaho Fish and Game was recently accused by one prominent woolgrower of being in bed with WWP. I have a copy of his letter.

What better way for a politically weak department to protect itself from the powerful livestock operators who have the support of a very friendly governor than slap at a person who symbolizes the conservation effort to bring the woolgrowers to respect the existence of bighorn sheep in Idaho?

In terms of state livestock politics, the bighorn issue is as lot bigger than wolves, which are mostly just a way for expressing their resentment that they lost (temporarily) on the symbolic issue.

At the WWP blog, Brian gives the details. Wolf meeting altercation.

New. Feb. 2, 2008. Marvel Strikes back. By David Cooper. Magic Valley Times News. 

Notice: this post is open to comment, but no personal name calling, not of Marvel, Ertz, Commissioner Wayne Wright, Virgil Moore, etc.

Battle over bighorns: State seeks solutions to domestic vs. wild sheep conflict

Here is another story on effort by the woolgrowers to take over and divert bighorn sheep management in Idaho. It is on the front page of the Magic Valley Times News today.

I’d judge the article to be just fair in its accuracy.

Battle over bighorns. State seeks solutions to domestic vs. wild sheep conflict. By Matt Christensen. Times-News writer.

I think the science on domestic sheep infecting bighorns is conclusive. Every step of the process is not known, but then neither is it known for the malarial infection of humans. Nevertheless, everyone knows the mosquito is the vector. Sheep are the vector for the pneumonia bighorn get after contact with them.

Pneumonia strikes Montana bighorn sheep

The entire herd in the Elkhorn Mountains near Helena might die. Once again the suspect is domestic sheep (this is according to the article below).

Pneumonia strikes bighorn sheep. By Eve Byron. Helena Independent Record.

Battle over Bighorn, part II

Battle over Bighorn: Opposing views on disease and economics. This is part II. By Sven Berg. South Idaho Press

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I posted part I earlier. Here is it again. Battle over Bighorn, part I.

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There is more on this on the Western Watersheds Project blog. “Dear Governor” – Bighorn, Mule deer opportunity, & domestic sheep in southern Idaho.

The blog shows the influence trail with actual documents.

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Update: Idaho bighorn plan could mean more wild sheep would be killed. Idaho Statesman. By Keith Ridler. Bighorn sheep in Idaho have dropped from 6500 in 1990 to about 3500 today. You wouldn’t know it to hear the domestic sheep lobby moan and whine. Now the Idaho Bighorn/Domestic Sheep Working Group is nearing their recommendation to the governor. Not surprisingly, the “solution” will be to restrict the bighorn from reoccupying their native range and to kill bighorn that venture outwards from some boxed-in areas where they will be allowed to persist if they can.

The article says, “There are some 260,000 domestic sheep in Idaho, and they brought in more than $17 million to the state in 2006, according to the state Agriculture Department.” It doesn’t say how much the bighorn bring in, although a ram with a full curl has had tags sold at auction at $75.000.

$17-million dollars is a piss-poor return for an industry that monopolizes millions or acres of land in Idaho, much of it public land that could have abundant wildlife instead.

Battle over Bighorn

Battle over Bighorn. By Sven Berg. South Idaho Press. The first in a 2 part series.

These bighorn issue should be noted by all those who write about predators and hunting because it shows the ranchers are not just anti-wolf, but against any wildlife they think hurts their bottom line.

I recall an old bumper sticker. . . . “hunters, did a cow get your elk?”  In this case it is sheep and bighorn.

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Notice how people who work for the state of Idaho will not comment on this issue or must, in one instance, take questions only in writing and approved by their department (this is what is supposed to be academic setting).

Survival of bighorns in Tetons a mystery

This is from the Jackson Hole News and Guide. It’s about how 100 bighorn sheep struggle to survive in the heights of the Tetons. It is a marginal existence, but the destruction of the bighorns of the Snake River Range and other mountain chains to the south and southeast, which would provide better habitat is not due to human development like the article says.

It is sheep, domestic sheep, disease-spreading domestic sheep.

Story by Cory Hatch in the Guide.

Idaho Senate Resources and Environment committee meeting

Idaho Senate Resources & Environment committee meeting by BE.

Perhaps just my feeling, but this tells us so much about the players and their priorities.

Nuggets from the legislature: Idaho may poison wolves to reduce numbers

As if to underscore Jan. 15 concern of the members of the US House Natural Resources Committee members, Idaho’s State Senate Resources and Environment Committee had a hearing today with the Idaho Fish and Game Commissioners into a variety of wildlife unfriendly subjects such as wolves, bighorn sheep and sage grouse — those species Idaho’s old-line ag establishment hates with a passion.

According to Brian Ertz, who attended the hearing, IDFG commissioners for the first time used the “P” word, that Idaho might just have to just poison wolves to reduce their numbers. Of course, they will be using aerial gunning to reduce the wolves if the hunters don’t get enough of them. The committee chairman assured them they would have ample funds for their endeavors in case the federal government didn’t come through.

In other matters, Fish and Game Commissioner Wright touted the “rancher friendly” grass they were planting for sage grouse — Siberian wheatgrass!

Update from Brian Ertz (moved forward to).

Rocky Barker: Bighorn-domestic sheep conflict could blow up soon in Idaho

Barker has an amazing story this morning . . . the “Cassia County Board of Commissioners voted to ask [Butch] Otter to relocate bighorn sheep from the South Hills near Twin Falls because of conflicts with domestic sheep.” Of course, Otter can’t legally order this. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission can. They are supposed to be independent, and once truly were. We shall see.

The bighorn herd which is near Big Cottonwood Creek lives close to the domestic sheep allotments of several powerful sheep growers.

I wonder if the County Commissioners asked local wildlife enthusiasts if they wanted this rare herd removed, or did the sheep-men storm into the Commissioner’s meeting and demand the resolution from their compliant servants?

Idaho bighorn/domestic sheep consensus group meets, and sheep disease transmission not on the table.

Earlier, we ran an exclusive story that the livestock industry and various officials were having a secret meeting at the request of Idaho’s governor to counter the federal courts because they were insisting that sheep operations keep their disease-ridden bands away from bighorn sheep in Hells Canyon (Idaho/Oregon border) and on the lower Salmon River in Idaho.

Dec. 3, 2007. Rumor of high level Idaho meeting to conspire against recent bighorn sheep victories.

It was true, and the so the whole thing emerged on Jan. 7 as a consensus group meeting attended by a number of groups, but the agenda was tightly controlled.

Once again what is so fascinating is how little stockgrowers are concerned about passing livestock disease to wildlife.

The Western Watersheds Project blog has an interesting account of the group’s first meeting, at least I find it appallingly entertaining. Read “Bighorn Meeting.” WWP blog.

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Similarly why is it that the ag lobby’s kept agency, APHIS, is doing so little about bluetongue which is a grave threat to whiletailed deer, pronghorn and a number of ruminant livestock.?

Idaho: ‘The battle between wild and domestic sheep has only just begun’

The Times-News has a story highlighting some history concerning bighorn sheep in southern Idaho.

Hunting for history: The return of the southern Idaho bighorn sheep
By Ron Yates

Stories concerning bighorn sheep have focused on the majestic animals’ past. But recent reports of developments concerning their management, reported in real time, have prompted positive results for bighorn management in the state of Idaho. Thanks are due Ralph for the light. With this in mind, I include some ulterior context below the fold:

Bighorn sheep reintroduced to island mountain ranges in Utah

A nice thing about a number of the isolated mountain ranges in the Great Basin is there are no domestic sheep, making the reintroduction of bighorn possible.

The reclamation of historic bighorn range is largely limited by domestic sheep, which quickly pass killer diseases to their wild cousins.

“Big day for bighorns: Mountain sheep get helicopter ride to new domains.” By Tom Wharton. Salt Lake Tribune.

Across the Great Salt Lake Desert to the Newfoundland Range. It’s surrounded by mud flats and salt flats. Sometimes, such as wet years, by water. Copyright © Ralph Maughan

Bush Administration trying to charge fees to photo and film on the public lands.

Now the Bush Administration wants to charge fees and require permits for people who commercially take photos or film in the national parks, national forests, BLM lands and wildlife refuges.

This is another attempt to steal your rights to use your public land right out from under you, and also to prevent coverage of what is going on on the public lands. It is also a clear violation of your First Amendment Rights.

I can see a ranger asking you for your permit to photograph the pollution running out of oil well on the national forest.

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Closely related to this new attempt to take away your natural rights as an American is the growing citizen movement to fight back against the RAT (Recreation Access Tax). Story: Turning Back the Clock to the Good Old Days. What the Baucus-Crapo Bill Does. New West by Bill Schneider.

Breaking story: Fees proposed by Bush Administration for filming and photography on public lands. By Les Blumenthal.

Rumor of high level Idaho meeting to conspire against recent bighorn sheep victories

There is a rumor that top Idaho state legislators met today in Boise with the Governor’s office of Species Conservation, the Bush Forest Service, the Bush BLM, Idaho Fish and Game, and perhaps one member from the Federation for North American Wild Sheep to strategize how they can stop the spreading legal victories by Advocates for the West and Western Watersheds Project to protect bighorn sheep in the Hells Canyon and lower Salmon River areas from contact with the deadly (to bighorn) domestic sheep.

This is rumor, but most of these agencies can’t be happy they keep losing cases and getting orders that insist domestic sheep be kept away from the bighorn. Rumor is they will try to get the Forest Service and BLM to drag their feet more slowly than ever and shut up those folks in Idaho Fish and Game who think wildlife (bighorn at least) come first.

Story about the issue from High Country News. “Sheep v. Sheep”. By Nathaniel Hoffman. My link to the recent news story in the Times-News has gone dead, so Sheep v. Sheep is a substitute.

Federal judge upholds sheep grazing ban in western Idaho [to protect bighorn sheep from disease]

Another big win for Western Watersheds Project and Advocates for the West in conserving and restoring Idaho’s wildlife heritage.

Story in the Magic Valley Times-News. By Keith Ridler. Unfortunately the link to this story on the great victory is dead.

Whose Sheep? How wild sheep lose out to their domesticated brethren

Earlier I linked to the WWP blog story “Bighorn Sheep Threaten Western Way of Life?”

Now the Boise Weekly has reprinted an article from High Country News giving more background into the controversy that led to the successful lawsuit this spring that kept the Payette National Forest from ignoring its court ordered duty to keep the domestic sheep and bighorn sheep apart.

Whose Sheep? How wild sheep lose out to their domesticated brethren. By Nathaniel Hoffman, High Country News.

This issue will be back next spring.

Just a few domestic sheep and bighorn sharing the same country could set off disease that would undo a generation of efforts to restore bighorn to the Idaho/Oregon border at Hells Canyon.

Domestic livestock disease is killing wildlife

Bluetongue is a disease carried by livestock which has been found to be spreading into game populations, killing antelope and white-tail deer. Montana has confirmed two deaths caused by the disease, and flights indicate a significant amount of dead animals:

“Bluetongue can affect wildlife, and we got testing results back on our first two animals Tuesday that show bluetongue was the cause of death,” said Jay Newell, wildlife biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Roundup.

Disease is a significant consequence of intermingling domesticated livestock with wild animals. Consider the Buffalo slaughter in yellowstone ~ brucellosis was originally introduced by livestock, the consequences of the domesticated arrangement in the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming, or the die-offs of bighorn intermingling with domestic sheep.

Note: Western Watersheds Project, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, and the Wilderness Society have re-opened litigation regarding the use of the Salmon River Driveway to trail domestic sheep off of the Payette National Forest, a practice that exposes bighorn to epizootic diseases.

Organism ID’d that may be killing bighorn sheep

It is a bacteria called mycoplasma ovipneumoniae. It is apparently common in domestic sheep and goats, but easily causes fatal pneumonia in bighorn sheep. Story Organism ID’d That May Be Killing Bighorn Sheep. By Keith Ridgler. AP. (as printed in the Seattle Post Intelligencer).

“All indications are that the domestics are passing diseases and killing off the bighorns,” said [Greg] Dyson [Hells Canyon Preservation Council]. “And the bighorns just can’t get a foothold to become re-established. There have been entire herds that have died off.”

In May a lawsuit by the Western Watersheds Project, and two other groups, forced the Forest Service to stop their planned turnout of domestic sheep into the range of the struggling bighorn in Hells Canyon on the Idaho/Oregon border.

If people want to see a more general restoration of bighorn sheep on their public lands, the bands of domestic sheep in these territories simply have to go.

See earlier stories.

• Idaho Bighorn Euthanized After Contacting Domestic Goats
• Western Watersheds Project files federal lawsuit to protect bighorn sheep in Hells Canyon
• Nez Perce Tribe very concerned about Hells Canyon bighorn/domestic sheep mixing in upcoming grazing season

Idaho Bighorn Euthanized After Contacting Domestic Goats

By Tom Keegan, Idaho Department of Fish and Game

A one-year-old bighorn sheep ram that mingled with domestic goats was euthanized Monday, June 25, to prevent the sheep from potentially carrying disease back to the wild herd.

Tom Keegan, Salmon regional wildlife manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, euthanized the year-old ram Monday after capturing the animal Friday evening. The bighorn sheep was removed from a pasture containing several hundred domestic goats south of Salmon airport.

Because bighorn sheep are susceptible to diseases that can be carried by domestic sheep and goats, Idaho Fish and Game policy is to remove bighorns when they come in contact with domestic herds. Attempts to find a research or zoo facility that would accept the young ram were unsuccessful.

A landowner contacted regional wildlife staff Friday evening to report that a young bighorn ram was in a pasture with several hundred domestic goats. Biologists responded and drugged the animal using a dart gun.

Domestic sheep and goats often carry a number of bacteria and viruses that wild sheep may be susceptible to and that can result in fatal pneumonia. The greatest risk occurs when a wild sheep mixes with domestic sheep or goats and then returns to a wild herd, potentially spreading the bacteria or viruses to other wild sheep. In some cases, this can result in large-scale die-offs in wild sheep.

“In a few cases, entire wild sheep herds have died,” Keegan said. “More often we see 50 to 70 percent losses, followed by several years of low lamb survival.”

Mark Drew, a wildlife veterinarian with Fish and Game, contacted a research facility and several municipal zoos in Idaho and neighboring states to find a home for the young ram, but none of the facilities had room for the animal at this time.

“It’s heartbreaking to have to euthanize a bighorn sheep,” Keegan said. “But the risk to wild populations is huge, so it’s definitely the lesser of two evils.”

Keegan thanked the landowner for the timely report.

For biologists to respond quickly and protect wild sheep, it is important for people to report interactions immediately between wild bighorns and domestic sheep or goats. Anyone who sees bighorn sheep mixing with domestic sheep or goats may contact the nearest Fish and Game office, or the local Fish and Game conservation officer.

Tom Keegan is the regional wildlife manager in Salmon.

Conservationists File Suit Over Illegal Sheep Grazing in Yellowstone Area

This lawsuit is over sheep grazing in the Centennial Mountains to the west of Yellowstone. The range forms the Idaho/Montana border.

-News Release-

Conservationists File Suit Over Illegal Sheep Grazing in Yellowstone Area
Groups Seek to Protect Bighorn Sheep and Other Endangered Species

SILVER CITY, N.M.— Two conservation groups sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture today over the illegal grazing of domestic sheep on more than 100,000 acres of public lands in and near the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Idaho and Montana. The presence of these domestic sheep, and management actions taken on their behalf, hurts sensitive and endangered native wildlife such as Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, lynx, gray wolves and grizzly bears.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project filed suit against the Sheep Experiment Station, Agricultural Research Service and Forest Service, all agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Sheep Experiment Station itself manages about 48,000 acres, where it is grazing sheep without any environmental analysis or consideration of impacts to endangered species. The Sheep Station also grazes sheep on over 54,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management allotments, where its permits have expired, management plans date back to the 1960s, and little to no analysis has been completed.
“It’s not the 1870s anymore,” pointed out Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “But the federal government is allowing grazing in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with its world-class wildlife herds and rare animals, without permits — as if the West was still open range.”

“The Sheep Experiment Station is a relic of the past,” said Jon Marvel of Western Watersheds Project. “It is time to protect our wonderful native wildlife on these public lands lest we risk losing them.”
The conservationists point to systemic violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Public Rangelands Improvement Act. The conservation groups also sent the agencies notice of intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act.

The 100,000 acres of public land where the sheep are grazed include important connective habitat for any wildlife attempting to travel between the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the large wilderness and roadless areas of central Idaho.

Epizootic diseases transmitted from domestic sheep also threaten bighorn sheep herds.

Lynx, wolves and grizzly bears are further at risk from the sheep grazing by predator control measures, since steel leghold traps and strangulation snares, aerial gunning, and poisons are all typically used to prevent wildlife from preying on domestic sheep. Without environmental analysis the public has been kept in the dark as to impacts on wildlife.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 35,000 members dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild lands.
Western Watersheds Project is a nonprofit conservation group dedicated to protecting and restoring watersheds and wildlife in 11 western states.

Editor’s note. Recall that earlier this year the Western Watersheds Project was able to use the law to keep domestic sheep from passing diseases to bighorn sheep in the Hells Canyon area of the Idaho/Oregon border.

Western Watersheds Project files federal lawsuit to protect bighorn sheep in Hells Canyon.

A couple weeks ago I posted a news release from the Nez Perce Tribe how the Forest Service was not living up to their committment (mandated by an earlier court ruling) to keep domestic and bighorn sheep apart in Hells Canyon.

Now the Western Watersheds Project has gone to court. Here is their news release.

Western Watersheds Project Files Litigation To Protect Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

On March 30, 2007 Western Watersheds Project filed a Complaint in federal District Court in Idaho against the Payette and Nez Perce National Forests for violations of their Forest Plans, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Act and the Administrative Procedures Act charging that the two Forests have failed to protect Bighorn Sheep from disease transmission from domestic sheep permitted to graze on the two Forests in locations that risk die-offs of hundreds of Bighorn Sheep because of direct contact between domestic sheep and bighorns. The case was assigned to Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

On April 16, 2007 WWP was joined in the litigation by the Hells Canyon Preservation Council and The Wilderness Society through an amended complaint. Also filed on April 16 was a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and/or preliminary injunction to prevent the turn-out of domestic sheep on five grazing allotments (Smith Mountain, Curren Hill, Marshall Mountain, Bear Pete and French Creek) on the Payette National Forest and one grazing allotment (Allison-Berg) on the Nez Perce National Forest.

Since turn-out on the critical bighorn habitat on the Smiths Mountain allotment is scheduled for May 15, 2007, the court has set a court hearing on the Motion for injunctive relief for May 3, 2007. WWP and the other plaintiffs are very ably represented by lead attorney, Laurie Rule of Advocates For The West’s Boise Office. Also representing WWP and the other groups and supporting Laurie with their excellent work are attorneys Jennifer Schemm of La Grande, Oregon and Brett Brownscombe of Portland, Oregon.

For more information including all the filings in this important case please visit the WWP web site legal pages.

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Nez Perce Tribe very concerned about Hells Canyon bighorn/domestic sheep mixing in upcoming grazing season

The Nez Perce Tribe issued a news release today expressing concern that in the upcoming grazing season there was a high probably of domestic sheep mixing with bighorn in Hells Canyon where restoration of bighorn herds has gone slowly. The Payette National Forest has promised to solve the problem (because the FS Chief upheld an appeal of their Forest Plan back in 2004), but with the near onset of grazing, it looks to be like they are doing nothing.

When domestic sheep mix with bighorn, the bighorn die of domestic sheep diseases very quickly. It cannot be tolerated.

The Tribe’s news release follows. It is very low key and respectfully written. I’m used to seeing “get your rear in gear, slackers, or we’ll see you court right away.” I hope the tone of the Tribe doesn’t lead the Forest Service and the livestock politicians not to take this seriously.