Story Created: Jul 28, 2009 at 12:15 PM MDT
Story Updated: Jul 28, 2009 at 12:15 PM MDT
Biologists have widely concluded that domestic sheep pass diseases to bighorns, causing bighorns to die because they have no natural resistance to the illnesses. But sheep industry officials say they could be put out of business if grazing allotments are closed due to concern domestic sheep transmit deadly illnesses to bighorns.
Earlier this year, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed into law a bill to require the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to work with producers to develop a plan to keep bighorns away from domestic sheep while preserving domestic sheep grazing on federal land.
The law requires the plan and methods to be completed by Aug. 6. It also calls for Fish and Game to certify as acceptable any risk of disease transfer to bighorns remaining after the plan is put in place.
"It formalizes it more," Brad Compton, big game manager for the agency, told The Times-News. "It's got the weight of law behind it now."
After Otter signed the legislation, The Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Conservation League and Wild Sheep Foundation pulled out of Otter's collaborative Idaho Bighorn/Domestic Sheep Working Group amid concerns bighorns would be left vulnerable.
"The recent legislation made working as a collaborative kind of impossible," said Gray Thornton, president and CEO of the Cody, Wyo.-based Wild Sheep Foundation.
Thornton said the foundation has been working with sheep producers in Idaho to try and find a solution. He said he would like to see buyouts of grazing allotments from willing sellers or moving domestic sheep out of historic bighorn habitat.
"Ultimately, we want bighorn sheep to win, but not at the expense of domestic producers," he said.
The legislation signed by Otter requires Cal Groen, director of Fish and Game, to certify that any risk of disease transmission is acceptable for the bighorns in the areas where the agreements are in place. Those areas should be known when the plan is released next week.
"It puts a real onus on our director," said Wayne Wright, chairman of the Fish and Game Commission. "He will be pulled from both sides."
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