I have refrained from jumping on here and clearing up several erroneous claims, and statements, and so "facts" made by some, simply to avoid the potential back and forth on some hunting website. My contact info is easy to get so call or email me with your questions or concerns vs shout here that nothing is being done for Utah sheep. Contact me and get some facts before spewing inaccurate information about Utah's sheep herds and the lack of effort by UFNAWS or the UDWR to manage Utah's sheep. I'm always open to discuss solutions to better Utah's sheep program. I think of sheep and ways to get and keep more of them in Utah, everyday, many times a day.
We are a small conservation organization with one fundraising banquet each year and don't have full time paid staff to go to work for Utah sheep every day 365. However, there is a lot more being done than most realize on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis for sheep management here in Utah. We don't have a monthly newsletter, nor could we afford to print one to keep everyone informed up to the minute about our goings on, $$ spent, and donated time to try and make Utah's sheep herds better in the future than they are today. As the new UFNAWS President, I'll do my best to hit the highlights in our few newsletters each year to keep our members and other Utah sheep lovers informed. Some of you here have made statements about me, UFNAWS, etc so lets set a few facts straight about this thread.
One effort we've made is that for the past 3 years since I got more involved in UFNAWS as their "staff biologist" and now President, I've traveled the state on field trips with DWR, BLM, and Forest Service personnel and discussed sheep issues, concerns, transplants, on the ground in every region of the state 1-2 times per year. A lot of time and collaboration goes in to moving sheep into or within the state, and these meetings help lay out the logistics to make it all happen, as well as allow for discussion of prescriptive measures to keep what sheep we currently have out on the mountains. UFNAWS stepped up and funded the full time bighorn sheep and goat biologist for the DWR, something we think is crucial for Utah sheep, given their fragile nature. Nothing stays the same with sheep herds it seems, there are always new or reoccurring challenges that pop up. Dustin Schaible has taken his job very seriously and has been extremely eager to help enhance and secure Utah's sheep herds. He has Utah's sheep herds on his mind everyday.
UFNAWS has been involved in dozens of negotiations with buyouts and domestic sheep permit conversions that take hundreds of thousands of dollars to pull off. Bighorn sheep permit license fees don't add up to much in Utah each year, nowhere near the costs it takes to actively manage sheep populations. I am currently working on solutions to some existing domestic permit issues in the state, they take $$ plain and simple. Utah wouldn't have near the bighorn herds we have without conservation permit dollars for transplants and conversions. Most people never hear of these buyouts and bash the conservation permit program for being a failure. Something I just don't get.
Lions eat sheep yes, no question everywhere they can get their teeth into one, they'll kill it. Some units they have, and continue to have much more of an impact on sheep numbers than others. For instance the Escalante unit which now has less than 100 sheep, is nearly impossible to hunt lions with dogs, we've flown houndsmen into the unit and asked their opinion, they said it would be better off trying to trap and snare them. So over the past year and a half, UFNAWS and DWR asked and paid USDA Wildlife services trappers to go in and at least try to kill a lion or two, anything, in the Escalante. This spring, these trappers were nearly killed when their helicopter crashed while in checking snares. UFNAWS thanks them for their efforts, and hope they continue to recover. Bottom line we are trying, and will continue to try and trap lions in there until we get results.
On the Zion unit there are 700-800 sheep throughout the unit, more than there probably should be with available habitat, proximity to towns, backyard sheep, goats, etc., this is why we have been aggressive at working with the DWR and Park Service in setting up transplants to thin the herd and reduce the magnitude and threat of a disease outbreak, at the same time giving a new home to desert sheep, conservation permit dollars at work!
Along with 700-800 estimated sheep in and out of the park on the Zion, there are also thousands of wintering deer that spend half the year in sheep country, giving the lions plenty to eat. Undoubtedly, lions will eat sheep but the herd is at it's population threshold. I hate to find a lion killed sheep, ram, ewe, or lamb, it chaps me bad. They are stealing precious opportunity from a future sheep hunter. But it will happen to some degree in all sheep herds, I am committed to mitigating these losses however we can, even by offering monetary incentives for hunters to kill them in areas that get little lion harvest. The Zion and most all of our sheep herds are open quota lion units open 360+ days of the year and the quota remains open almost never filling, so anyone can buy a tag and kill a lion when they want. UFNAWS has pushed for this kind of harvest objective status on sheep units to allow hunters to kill them whenever. I personally buy a cougar tag every year just in case I see one while, guiding sheep hunters each fall on various units. Anyone could do the same. Despite sheep numbers being so high on the Zion unit, in the winter of 2013-14, UFNAWS contacted houndsmen and asked them to target the Zion unit for lions in sheep country, and we offered an additional monetary incentive to them if they killed a lion, not just treed it, took photos, and turned it loose. These houndsmen killed 5 additional lions on the Zion unit and we compensated them for doing so, all in the name of saving some sheep. So we are doing something!
There are no domestic sheep with bighorn on the Zion to my knowledge or the DWR's, not sure where Trammer gets all of his info but, I can assure you, if we knew about it, we'd be doing all we could to remove them. The threats are constant from Sprigdale, Rockville, Hilldale, Apple Valley, Kanab, and Mt. Carmel, so inevitably more interactions may happen.
There was a feral goat spotted among some bighorn by a couple different hunters on the Zion last fall. An effort was made by the DWR to fly in and find it and kill it but efforts were unsuccessful. This past weekend, I was scouting for sheep on the Zion and found the goat among some bighorn. I called the DWR from the mountain and told them I had it found. I watched it until evening and hiked out. Due to Father's day and helicopter availability, we were not able to go back until the first thing Monday morning. I flew in with the DWR and we relocated and killed it. We took nasal and blood samples to send to the lab for disease diagnostics. We are doing something!
It seems to me Trammer would like to doom and gloom Utah's sheep management efforts and excite many of you into thinking no one is doing anything about the problems. This couldn't be further from the truth. I have many more examples, like I said call or email anytime, you to Brad. Get some facts straight before making false allegations. I ask you all to get involved in Utah sheep management however you can and help find solutions to the ongoing problems sheep will unfortunately face indefinitely. They are a sensitive, "high maintenance" species that require a lot of effort to establish and maintain, this will never change. Sheep herds will build and unexpectedly fall, I hope to do my small part to make the rises higher and the falls not so low.
I welcome your comments or questions regarding Utah sheep management anytime.
Adam Bronson
Utah FNAWS President
435-531-3272
