Bighorn Sheep on Wild Horse Island

My favorite wildlife species on the island are the bighorn sheep.  Catching a glimpse of the majestic, curved horns on a ram makes a tough hike totally worth it.  The males are large, occasionally getting up to over 350 lb with horns that can weigh up to 30 lb.

Once numbering in the millions, this iconic wild western species had crashed to only several thousand in the early 20^th century.  Today, bighorn sheep populations represent only 70% of historic levels.

Bighorn sheep protections are under threat once again—this time from Congress.  National Wildlife Federation and Idaho Wildlife Federation’s efforts to protect bighorns scored a major victory earlier this year, but some in Congress are trying to reverse that success.

A “Bad Bighorn Sheep Rider” may find its way into a package of appropriations bills which is being negotiated right now.  The policy rider would reverse an important Forest Service decision to close much of Idaho’s Payette National Forest to domestic sheep grazing where conflicts with bighorns exist.

Protecting and rebuilding Bighorn Sheep populations depends upon effective separation from domestic sheep, according to extensive research and field experience by  wildlife managers and researchers from throughout the West (including Idaho Wildlife Federation and the Nez Perce).

If this bad wildlife rider passes, it would set a precedent that would ensure that bighorns will continue to die off across the west.  Entire herds are at risk of disappearing for the benefit of a couple ranching interests.  Not to mention the rider would jeopardize big hunting and outdoor recreation dollars bighorn sheep generate for western communities.

Rob Fraser, President of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, laid out what is at stake in a recent guest opinion article:

“Bighorn sheep are an icon of Idaho and vitally important to sportsmen and all Idahoans who cherish wildlife and the rugged fabric that makes the state special. We can’t take what we have in Idaho for granted and let politics trump science, forcing our land managers to do nothing while domestic sheep roam alongside wild bighorn sheep. The loss of native bighorn sheep populations such as those in the Salmon River Mountains would denigrate the legacy of wildlife diversity for future generations.”

Keep checking Wildlife Promise for more information on all the different harmful policy riders that could make it into the appropriations bills.

Photo credit: Ryan Hagerty

National Wildlife Federation’s continuing efforts to protect bighorn sheep have scored a major victory.

In March of 2010, NWF joined with partners in Idaho including the Nez Perce tribe and the Idaho Wildlife Federation to provide comments to the Payette National Forest as it prepared an update to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement regarding the effects of domestic sheep grazing on bighorn habitat.

As a result, the Forest Service announced their decision to close much of Payette National Forest to domestic sheep grazing where conflicts exist.

The Forest Service cited “the preponderance of scientific literature” that shows that when domestic sheep come into contact with wild sheep, bighorns contract diseases and die in large numbers.

Prior to the mid-1800s, bighorn sheep were abundant throughout the West, with numbers estimated at 1.5 to 2 million. Large declines occurred because of overharvest, habitat loss, competition for forage, and disease transmission from domestic sheep that grazed in bighorn sheep habitat.

Today, bighorn populations have declined more than 70% from historic levels.

Payette National Forest Outcome To Be Important Precedent

Local wool growers have disputed the decision through a formal appeals process. National Wildlife Federation and its partners have also filed an appeal in an effort to support the Forest Service, calling for even stronger measures to protect wild bighorn sheep.

Instead of phased implementation, for example, bighorns and domestic sheep should be separated immediately while we develop more robust monitoring and evaluation directives and other mechanisms that encourage population growth and sustainability. This battle is likely to move into the legal realm, and by filing an appeal now, NWF and its allies will ensure that we have the legal standing to intervene effectively.

This is shaping up to be a key, precedent-setting legal contest with many other states watching carefully, as the outcome has the potential to influence how bighorns are managed on public lands throughout the West.

NWF Helping Nez Perce Monitor Bighorn Sheep

National Wildlife Federation has also provided equipment and resources, such as funding for GPS collars, collaborating with the Nez Perce tribe so they can more effectively monitor bighorn movements on the Payette National Forest and Hells Canyon.

Much of the tribe’s research has informed past decisions impacting bighorn sheep on federal lands. The tribe has been able to demonstrate with geographic accuracy, the range of specific populations. Building the Nez Perce’s capacity to monitor these animals will ultimately help buttress the Forest Service’s decision and provide useful data to the Idaho Department of Game and Fish in support of ongoing management efforts.

When Lewis and Clark arrived on the banks of the Snake River in 1805, the Columbia Basin of the Pacific Northwest boasted the greatest salmon stocks on Earth – up to 30 million salmon returned home each year. It must have been quite a sight!

Today, however, populations linger near just one percent of that historic number. Every run of salmon and steelhead on the Snake River are either extinct or listed under the Endangered Species Act.

As a Pacific Northwesterner, the impacts of the salmon crisis on our economy, ecology and culture are very apparent. Wild salmon support rural communities and tribal cultures, stable jobs, world-renowned fishing opportunities and thriving communities.

Over the last several decades, we have seen the federal government repeatedly fail to develop a lawful, science-based, and economical plan to restore endangered salmon to abundance. A lack of leadership from many elected officials has left our wild salmon and West Coast communities that rely on them high and dry.

Fortunately, President Obama and Congress now have a rare opportunity to bring together fishing, farming,energy interests and others to collaboratively solve this long-running conflict in a way that restores salmon, creates jobs, and invests in our communities and a clean energy economy.

Within just a few weeks, the Obama Administration will decide whether to “stay the course” on the Bush Administration’s failed federal plan or to chart a new path that helps both people and salmon flourish.

They need to hear from you –tell the Obama Administration that it’s time for a salmon plan that works.

Salmon recovery in the Columbia and Snake Basin is still possible, but it depends on immediate and strong actions to counter threats to their survival. Let’s make sure that our iconic Columbia and Snake River salmon survive today and thrive tomorrow.

The Star Telegram.com reports:

“Fans of the giant Palouse earthworm are again seeking federal protection for the rare, sweet-smelling species that spits at predators.

Sightings of the worm have been reported only four times in 110 years, but supporters contend that it is still present in the Palouse, a region of about 2 million acres of rolling wheat fields near the Idaho-Washington border south of Spokane.

Decades of intense agriculture and urban sprawl have wiped out much of the worm’s habitat, said Steve Paulson with Friends of the Clearwater. Only about 2 percent of the Palouse prairie remains in a native state, he said. The worm can reach 3 feet long, is white and reportedly possesses a unique lily smell, said Greenwald, who is based in Portland, Ore. It is the largest and longest-lived earthworm in North America.”

See full article >>

Over the last five years, it’s been one thing after another threatening to take the character and beauty from our public lands. From fossil fuel development occurring at an unprecedented rate and conducted rashly and irresponsibly to dirty mining and threats to sell-off public lands for short term gains, public lands have been abused and all but forgotten as the national treasure they truly are.

Almost 1/3 of the United States is public lands — lands held in trust by all Americans that provide vital habitat for our wildlife, clean water and open space for recreation. They are also lands we will pass on to our children, and our children’s children to experience.

Last week the senate passed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, which contains more than 160 separate public lands bills, most of which will expand the protection of our public lands. The Act will provide the largest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 15 years, designating 2.1 million acres of permanent wilderness in nine states — California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Michigan, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Another one of the bills in the package — the National Landscape Conservation System Act — will provide permanent protection for the first new system of conservation lands in the United States in more than 50 years. Under the National Landscape Conservation System Act, over 850 federally recognized areas covering 27 million acres of the Bureau of Land Management’s most spectacular land and waters will be protected permanently.

The Act now moves to House of Representatives, which is expected to consider it in the coming weeks. Visit www.OurPublicLands.org for more information.