Plan Near to Keep Bighorn and Domestic Apart
Idaho Fish and Game and sheep producers will release a plan on August 6 to segregate bighorn and domestic sheep.
Courtesy of KCBI
TWIN FALLS (AP) — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is close to completing new agreements with Idaho sheep producers designed to keep wild bighorn and domestic sheep from mingling on public land, agency officials say.
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.
