This is from a weekly roundup of some of ICIE’s activities in and around the Idaho Legislature. Staffing limits mean we can’t cover every meeting. If there’s an item of interest to you at an upcoming meeting of one of the environment or agriculture committees, let us know and we’ll try to cover it. Agendas are available at http://www.state.id.us/. Click on “Legislative” and click on “Calendars and agendas.”
More on Sheep ...
I received a couple of calls this week about my report on the issue of sheep grazing rights in the Payette National Forest. So I did some research on the subject and watched the same presentation by sheep rancher, Ron Shirts and his attorney, Alan Schroeder, a second time when they came before the House Resources & Conservation Committee.
The correction: Big horn sheep were extirpated from the Hells Canyon area in the 1940’s, but there are currently big horn sheep in that area as a result of program to reintroduce them.
The dispute: Alan Schroeder showed the committee a map of the area in question with the location of big horn sheep marked. The Shirts family contends that there are few if any collared big horn sheep in the area during the time his domestic sheep would graze. His attorney presented a map that showed areas where bighorn sheep have been detected, and a map showing big horn sheep detected in that same area during the time domestic sheep would graze.
At the center of the dispute is the 1997 agreement which was signed by the state wildlife agencies of Idaho, Washington and Oregon, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (which has jurisdiction over Hells Canyon), Bureau of Land Management, the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep that allowed further reintroductions of bighorns in exchange for an agreement that domestic grazing would not be impaired.
According to a letter sent Idaho Wool Growers Association at the time, “the committee understands that bighorns may occasionally migrate outside of their designated range and come into contact with domestic sheep. These bighorns will be considered ‘at risk’ for potential disease transmission and death. There is also the potential for an exposed bighorn to leave the area and spread disease to other bighorn sheep. Under these conditions, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Washington Department of Wildlife will assume the responsibility for bighorn losses and further disease transmission in their respective areas. The three departments will also take whatever action is necessary to reduce further losses of bighorn sheep without adversely impacting domestic sheep operators.”
The Payette National Forest released its updated forest plan in 2003, and it seemed to include the essence of the 1997 agreement that bighorn reintroductions would not impair the grazing of domestic sheep. Several environmental groups and the Nez Perce Tribe challenged the plan in part over the domestic sheep-grazing issue. In 2005, the Chief of the Forest Service agreed that the plan did not provide enough protection for big horn sheep. The next year the Payette Forest published a risk assessment that found one allotment in the area in question, Smith Mountain, at very high risk for big horn sheep and four allotments at high risk. Domestic sheep grazing continued, however, while groups from both sides tried to reach some sort of accord.
In April, 2007, the anti-grazing group, Western Watersheds Project and the Hells Canyon Preservation Council sued the Forest Service for failing to protect a viable population of bighorn sheep as required by the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Act and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA).
NFMA rule says that each national forest must maintain a minimum, viable population of the species that live there which applied to the re-introduced big horn sheep. Once the big horn sheep were re-established, the Forest Service has a duty to protect them despite the 1997 agreement.
Faced with the lawsuit, the Payette National Forest agreed to a bighorn-protection plan drawn up by the Nez Perce Tribe. During a hearing in May, Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah A. Ferguson told Judge Winmill that the Payette National Forest would stop grazing during the 2007 season on portions of two domestic sheep allotments in the bighorn country on the Idaho side of the Snake River. Grazing on two allotments on the Salmon River would also be curtailed. The permittees were given just a few days to find alternate grazing or sell large portions of their herds.
The Forest Service had to do a risk assessment and an SEIS before modifying the permits; however, according to the ranchers, it modified the permits before the risk assessment and SEIS were done.
The ranchers contend there is no documented evidence of transmission of disease from domestic sheep to wild big horn sheep. There are some common pathogens but both wild and domestic sheep have them. The big horn sheep that have been reintroduced come from Canada and other states and are not tested for pathogens. Domestic sheep that are moved across state lines are tested for pathogens.
Those who want to end domestic grazing on these allotments or on all federally-managed land claim that bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to pathogens carried by domestic sheep. They also claim that there are numerous examples of big horn sheep dying after suspected contact with domestic sheep.
More on Sheep ...
I received a couple of calls this week about my report on the issue of sheep grazing rights in the Payette National Forest. So I did some research on the subject and watched the same presentation by sheep rancher, Ron Shirts and his attorney, Alan Schroeder, a second time when they came before the House Resources & Conservation Committee.
The correction: Big horn sheep were extirpated from the Hells Canyon area in the 1940’s, but there are currently big horn sheep in that area as a result of program to reintroduce them.
The dispute: Alan Schroeder showed the committee a map of the area in question with the location of big horn sheep marked. The Shirts family contends that there are few if any collared big horn sheep in the area during the time his domestic sheep would graze. His attorney presented a map that showed areas where bighorn sheep have been detected, and a map showing big horn sheep detected in that same area during the time domestic sheep would graze.
At the center of the dispute is the 1997 agreement which was signed by the state wildlife agencies of Idaho, Washington and Oregon, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (which has jurisdiction over Hells Canyon), Bureau of Land Management, the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep that allowed further reintroductions of bighorns in exchange for an agreement that domestic grazing would not be impaired.
According to a letter sent Idaho Wool Growers Association at the time, “the committee understands that bighorns may occasionally migrate outside of their designated range and come into contact with domestic sheep. These bighorns will be considered ‘at risk’ for potential disease transmission and death. There is also the potential for an exposed bighorn to leave the area and spread disease to other bighorn sheep. Under these conditions, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Washington Department of Wildlife will assume the responsibility for bighorn losses and further disease transmission in their respective areas. The three departments will also take whatever action is necessary to reduce further losses of bighorn sheep without adversely impacting domestic sheep operators.”
The Payette National Forest released its updated forest plan in 2003, and it seemed to include the essence of the 1997 agreement that bighorn reintroductions would not impair the grazing of domestic sheep. Several environmental groups and the Nez Perce Tribe challenged the plan in part over the domestic sheep-grazing issue. In 2005, the Chief of the Forest Service agreed that the plan did not provide enough protection for big horn sheep. The next year the Payette Forest published a risk assessment that found one allotment in the area in question, Smith Mountain, at very high risk for big horn sheep and four allotments at high risk. Domestic sheep grazing continued, however, while groups from both sides tried to reach some sort of accord.
In April, 2007, the anti-grazing group, Western Watersheds Project and the Hells Canyon Preservation Council sued the Forest Service for failing to protect a viable population of bighorn sheep as required by the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Act and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA).
NFMA rule says that each national forest must maintain a minimum, viable population of the species that live there which applied to the re-introduced big horn sheep. Once the big horn sheep were re-established, the Forest Service has a duty to protect them despite the 1997 agreement.
Faced with the lawsuit, the Payette National Forest agreed to a bighorn-protection plan drawn up by the Nez Perce Tribe. During a hearing in May, Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah A. Ferguson told Judge Winmill that the Payette National Forest would stop grazing during the 2007 season on portions of two domestic sheep allotments in the bighorn country on the Idaho side of the Snake River. Grazing on two allotments on the Salmon River would also be curtailed. The permittees were given just a few days to find alternate grazing or sell large portions of their herds.
The Forest Service had to do a risk assessment and an SEIS before modifying the permits; however, according to the ranchers, it modified the permits before the risk assessment and SEIS were done.
The ranchers contend there is no documented evidence of transmission of disease from domestic sheep to wild big horn sheep. There are some common pathogens but both wild and domestic sheep have them. The big horn sheep that have been reintroduced come from Canada and other states and are not tested for pathogens. Domestic sheep that are moved across state lines are tested for pathogens.
Those who want to end domestic grazing on these allotments or on all federally-managed land claim that bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to pathogens carried by domestic sheep. They also claim that there are numerous examples of big horn sheep dying after suspected contact with domestic sheep.
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