Bighorns dying

[popeshawnpaul]

We all jump on the tribal bandwagon and are worried about 40 elk dying.  How about whole herd of bighorns dying?  Doesn't this piss anyone off?  Every herd except for the Asotin herd in the Blues is dying.  Idaho, Oregon, WA...it doesn't matter.  Many more than 40...hundreds.  All because a couple ranchers want to graze domestic sheep.  Who even likes to eat domestic lamb.  This pisses me off.  I use to go into these herds and we had lots of tags down there and sheep on the mountain.  It's a disaster area.  How about we write an email and contact everyone we can think of regarding this issue?  Watch the following, it is very informative.  Don't even bother trying to tell me domestic sheep don't kill bighorns because you'll be on my ignore list.               You could sell 3 tags here, one in each state and get 450k each year total.  That money would do some good for sheep wouldn't it? 

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/246-Big-Horn-Pneumonia

[woodywsu]

Domestic sheep kill the hell out of bighorns. I thought grazing domestic sheep in Bighorn habitat and country was illegal in Washington? Don't know where I heard that but I always thought it was true. Maybe only in Hells Canyon. Anyone know?

[popeshawnpaul]

Technically, it might be.  However, right accross the river it isn't or at least they are trying to make it happen.  Then that bighorn crosses the river and...  It will take a regional approach but the Idaho politicians are standing up for grazers and things are in doubt.  I think I need to take a chill pill.  This stuff gets me mad.

And we are all worried that a tribal member might go up and kill a bighorn...?  They are dying left and right.  No lambs will equal no sheep when the adults die.  Simple enough.

[WAcoyotehunter]

I agree- There are lots of things we can do to help the wildlife- cattle, sheep, weeds, construction...you name it- there are lots of things people can do to help wildlife.  Wolves and Tribal hunters are a small part of the destruction of our wildlife populations.

[woodywsu]

Another big impact for bighorns is that they are extremely susceptable to diseases. Once a few get a disease, it spreads like crazy wiping out an entire herd. The larger the population, the larger the risk of disease hitting and spreading. Seems to happen everytime the population starts doing really well.

[Antlershed]

Is it because they are taking the food source, disease, combination of the above? Who can we send letters to?

[woodywsu]

I believe it is that domestic sheep carry a disease that they are immune to. So let's say some domestic sheep feed across an area. And then some bighorns feed across the same area days later. The bighorns are NOT immune to this disease and it is fatal. There is a lot of research done on this if you google "Bighorn sheep disease", I'm sure a lot will pop up. You would think WDFW and other agencies would help protect these bighorn species.

[Antlershed]

Thanks for the info.

[WAcoyotehunter]

In general- the grazing leases are a BAD DEAL for us...us meaning the 99.9% of the people that own the public property get very little benefit from them.  The cattle and sheep lobby is actually fairly strong, and I'm not saying we should put them out of business, but the Forest Service and State have lots of grazing leases that allow too many animals and take resources from our wildlife...and us. 

They (we?) make very little, if any, money off the leases. So, basically we're leasing our hunting and recreation property out at quite a loss. 

Aside from disease, the impacts include lost plant material that should be going to wildlife food/cover, weeds spread by cattle and sheep, riparian habitat distrubance (severe), erosion from beaten paths...

Lamb chops anyone? 

[woodywsu]

I don't feel like we should be bashing on livestock grazing (cows, sheep, or goats). There are a lot of positive results from grazing. Well-managed livestock grazing increases the diversity of habitats available to wildlife species. However, grazing needs to be monitored. Over-grazing can be very harmful for wildlife, plants, soil, and the ecosystem. As far as bighorn sheep go, I think domestic sheep shouldn't be allowed to graze in close proximity of populations of bighorns. WDFW, DNR, USFWS, etc should find proper grazing locations for domestic sheep to protect the bighorns and their habitat.

[Houndhunter]

hundreds??? i would think lions are a bigger issue for big horns

[popeshawnpaul]

Lions are not a bigger issue.  Whole herds of 60+ are getting wiped out.  I have a minor in Range Management, and I'm ok with grazing and even public land allotments.  However, domestic sheep have no place being close to bighorns.

The adults die from the disease, but sometimes they don't and they harbor the disease.  They then pass it on to the young who are susceptible and the young all die.  When the adults all die eventually, the population is not replenishing themselves.  This is a huge problem all over, not just in Hell's Canyon and the Blue Mountains.  This just happens to be one of the best place for the sheep and they are all dead or dying.  We use to give out 10+ permits down in the southeast corner of the state and now we give out 1.  The whole population is gone.  It has been suggested we kill all the bighorns and start over re-populating the area.  At this point it might be the best idea.  These areas and Hell's Canyon weren't even at carrying capacity for sheep.  This area can hold tons of big rams.  History has shown us that this is one of the best habitats for sheep there in North America. 

Who do we write to?  Let's start with our game agencies.  But most of them know the problems.  They make big money off sheep and they are controlled by our politicians.  We need to write our politicians in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  At this point, the specific people should be determined and we need to start fixing this problem.  I need to invite someone with more statisitics and information on the issue to this thread.  Maybe we can get Ramslam on here and see if he can help us discuss the issue further.  I have further information I can provide if I go look at some of my sources.  The last time I heard, Idaho was dragging their feet the most.  I just want people to be aware of this issue.  I like elk, but no matter how many the tribes kill we still have tons of elk in this state.  Bighorns, however, are limited and we lost about half the population and nobody blinked an eye.   

[WDFW-SUX]

Well I can promise that I'll never order a lamb chop ever again.
 


Its a really bad deal.  Would Idaho politicians even listen to a Washington resident?

[boneaddict]

It was a year or two ago, a bighorn walked across my Dads field in Carlton and jumped in with the neighbors sheep.  The WDFW wanted very specifically to terminate that ram so that he wouldn't join the herd and pass on his exposure.  Soooooo they must also take it seriously.  Not sure what they do up north in the Sinalahekin where they are closer to range.

[Red Dawg]

sheep die if you look at them wrong, are you 100 % that this is the problem. Not that I am questioning your knowledge on the topic but I am just wondering about how you went about getting your information.