Federal Judge Shutters Idaho Grazing Allotment
A federal judge ruled that a state law fell short and the BLM must protect bighorn sheep. The BLM won't fight the ruling.
BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge has ordered a western Idaho rancher to keep his sheep off his family's traditional grazing ground on public land to protect wild native bighorns. Federal land managers on Monday opted not to fight the ruling.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill ruled last week that a pact between a Salmon River rancher and the state to keep his domestic herd separate from bighorns on a Bureau of Land Management allotment fell short of a 2009 law aimed at helping Idaho's ranching industry and protecting the native wild sheep.
The Wilderness Society, Western Watersheds Project and Hells Canyon Preservation Council had all contended that a bighorn herd near Riggins was in danger of catching deadly diseases if the allotment near Partridge Creek opened to domestic herds on schedule Thursday.
The number of Idaho bighorns has dwindled by half since 1990 to about 3,500 after several mass die-offs. Wildlife managers believe bighorns can catch diseases such as pneumonia when they come into contact with domestic sheep. Winmill said he was trying to prevent more outbreaks.
"Irreversible damage is possible here," Winmill wrote in his 17-page ruling. "Bighorns could become infected and roam far up-river in the Salmon River drainage, infecting the other native bighorns along the way, causing large-scale losses."
