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Wild Sheep Advocates Pushing for Protection in the High Divide Country of Montana

Date
March 3, 2016
Contact
Bryan Bird (505) 699-4719 bbird@wildearthguardians.org
In This Release
Wildlife  
#DefendCarnivores, #EndTheWarOnWildlife
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Wild Sheep Advocates Pushing for Protection in the High Divide Country of Montana

Domestic Sheep Threaten Wild Bighorn with Disease
Contact: Bryan Bird (505) 699-4719 bbird@wildearthguardians.org

AdditionalContacts:

GlennHockett, Gallatin Wildlife Association, glhockett@bresnan.net (406) 581-6352
Joe Gutkoski, Yellowstone BuffaloFoundation (406) 587-9181


Great Falls, MT – Bighorn sheepadvocates in Montana asked a judge last month for protection of bighorn sheep habitat on United StatesForest Service public lands. The groups asked the court to rule against theForest Service for authorizing domesticsheep allotments on public lands thathistorically supported and could again support large numbers of bighorn sheep onthe Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. On February 25th 2016 WildEarthGuardians, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Western Watersheds Project andYellowstone Buffalo Foundation asked a federal judge to rule that the ForestService is jeopardizing wildlife in the Gravelly Mountains of southwest Montanawith approval of sheep grazing allotments. Seven domestic sheep allotments coveringmore than 55,000 acres of land surround Bighorn Mountain in the GravellyMountains.

“Bighorn sheep need a safe place inthis wild county between Yellowstone and the northern Rockies,” said Bryan Birdof WildEarth Guardians. “Public lands are a haven for wildlife and the ForestService needs to acknowledge the threats from domestic sheepgrazing.”

Domesticsheep allotments in the Gravelly Mountainsbetween Yellowstone National Park and the wild lands in the northernRockies are a serious threat to wildlife especially bighorn sheep and grizzly bears. The groups’ claim in theirlawsuit that new information regarding the impacts of domestic sheep grazingrequired the Forest Service to update its environmental analysis.

“We know bighorn sheep are in trouble andwe’ve waited over ten years for the Forest Service to consider the impacts ofdomestic sheep grazing allotments,” said Paul Griffin of the Gallatin WildlifeAssociation. “The government is not giving us any reason to believe they everwill.”

Montana Fish,Wildlife and Parks set a goal in 2010 of reintroducing five new herds ofbighorn sheep in Montana by 2015. No new herds of bighorn sheep have beenreintroduced to date. Biologists for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and theForest Service have both acknowledged that bighorn and domestic sheep cannotoccupy the same areas because domestic sheep carry pneumonia that is easilypassed to bighorn sheep, causing collapse of entire populations.

Eighty-fivepercent of the current tiny bighorn herds inMontana are decreasing and not long-term genetically viable. Close contact with domestic sheep is aguaranteed generational death sentence for bighorns. Bighorns were exposed to pneumonia-causingorganisms when domestics were first introduced in Montana and have continued tobe decimated by these persistent bacteria for generations. There is no co-existscenario possible on public lands for producing genetically healthy thrivingbighorn herds but the USFS could find suitable non conflict allotments fordomestic sheep growers.

The groups offered to settle the caselast year if the Forest Service agreed to prepare a new environmental analysisby a mutually agreed upon date. The conservation organizations also tried toreach out to the domestic sheep producers to talk about voluntary grazingpermit retirement before they filed suit.

“Inthe past, other organizations such National Wildlife Federation have beeninvolved in programs that would compensate sheep ranchers to retire allotmentpermits,” said Glenn Hockett, Gallatin Wildlife Association. “Compensation is afair strategy for protecting wildlife on public lands and meets all parties’ needs.”

In2006 a74,000-acre sheep grazing allotment south of Big Timber in the GallatinNational Forest was permanently closed, and National Wildlife Federation paidthe ranchers who used it for generations. The permittee was paid $130,000 for givingup grazing privileges and the USFS agreed to permanently close the allotment.This is an effective solution to deal with chronic conflicts between wildlife andlivestock and provides money to the sheep grower to obtain grazing lands away fromcore wildlife areas near Yellowstone.

Bighorn Sheep pc John Meyer WG

photo credit: John Meyer, WildEarth Guardians

 

Other Contact
Glenn Hockett, Gallatin Wildlife Association, glhockett@bresnan.net (406) 581-6352Joe Gutkoski, Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation (406) 587-9181