Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 19 OcTOber 2017

Lawsuit: Bighorn sheep threatened by domestic sheep grazing

court to prevent any sheep are permitted to graze.
from being released into The sheep station has op-
the area until after the en- erated for about a cen-
vironmental analysis is fin- tury and in recent years
ished. Currently, domestic has faced proposed shut-
sheep can start grazing on downs due to a declining
Nov. 6. federal budget. It has been
U.S. Forest Service officials kept open mainly through
did not return a phone mes- the efforts of U.S. Rep. Mike
sage seeking comment on Simpson, R-Idaho, who has
Wednesday. University of said the research is critically
Idaho officials had no im- important to the sheep in-
mediate comment on the dustry and eastern Idaho’s
lawsuit, said spokesman economy.
Brad Gary. Environmentalists have
The domesticated sheep filed previous lawsuits over
have grazed in the area the grazing areas in the re-
cited by environmentalists gion that are in a key east-
for years. The sheep sta- west wildlife corridor in the
tion operates on about 75 Centennial Mountains be-
square miles (195 square tween Yellowstone Nation-
kilometers) in Idaho. It also al Park and rugged central
grazes sheep on federal Idaho lands.
In this Jan. 8, 2008 file photo, Bighorn sheep graze near the Big Pines Recreation Area in the Ya- public land in Idaho and A 392-pound (178-kilo-
kima River Canyon, Wash. Montana. gram) male grizzly bear be-
Associated Press That public land includes ing tracked by researchers
By KEITH RIDLER “It’s unjustifiable for the U.S. horns. the Snakey Canyon and disappeared in September
Associated Press Department of Agriculture Environmentalists say dis- Kelley Canyon grazing al- 2012 from sheep station
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The and the University of Idaho ease has prevented the lotments on the southern property. Its collar was later
U.S. Forest Service is illegally to expose wild bighorn to herd from growing and end of the Beaverhead found hidden under a rock
jeopardizing a small herd of deadly pathogens for the that allowing the domes- Mountains west of Dubois, in a creek. The body of the
bighorn sheep with deadly sake of a few months of ticated sheep to graze Idaho, where 2,200 sheep bear was never found.q
diseases by allowing thou- free forage on the national there increases health risks
sands of domestic sheep forest,” Scott Lake, Idaho for bighorns because they
to graze in eastern Idaho director for Western Wa- could be sickened through
as part of agricultural re- tersheds Project, said in a contact with the domesti-
search activities, environ- statement. “The value of cated sheep.
mental groups have said in native wildlife far exceeds The groups contend the
a lawsuit. whatever the state and federal agency is violating
Western Watersheds Proj- federal government will get environmental laws by al-
ect and WildEarth Guard- out of taking this chance.” lowing the grazing this fall
ians in the lawsuit filed Tues- The lawsuit filed by Advo- and winter before complet-
day contend the grazing cates for the West chal- ing an environmental anal-
of sheep owned by the lenges the Forest Service’s ysis. The groups in the law-
University of Idaho via per- authorization of the grazing suit noted that courts have
mits issued to the U.S. De- allotments in the Caribou- previously recognized the
partment of Agriculture’s Targhee National Forest, an high risk of disease transmis-
Sheep Experiment Station area also used by a herd sion from domestic to wild
risks transmitting diseases to of about 36 South Beaver- sheep.
bighorn sheep. head Rocky Mountain big- The groups are asking the