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Sheep do not belong in delicate areas

After reading Debra Van Winegarden’s wonderfully written (“... whimsical lime stone rocks ...”) story about climbing Jura Knob (Herald, July 2), my sister and I attempted our first climb there. The trail was delightful, and while we didn’t make it to the tippy-top, we vowed to do it again.

And do it again we did. On July 26, we again followed the trail through the wonderful riot of wildflowers. It is a gorgeous trail set against a majestic tapestry of mountains and stark ridge lines. But our euphoria dissolved as we gained the lower ridge and discovered hundreds of sheep were mowing the grass and delicate flora down to the nub. The sheep had severely damaged the plants, and the meadows were covered in feces along with its accompanying odor. The scene, which had been so idyllic just three weeks earlier, had been decimated. And even more important than our disappointing experience is the fact that the impact on the alpine country will last much longer.

I wear wool, I’ve dined on lamb. There is a place for sheep. But this is public land – beautiful and sacred public land. It is disappointing that we allow the destruction of this land at such great cost to the greater community – and that community includes not only hikers like ourselves, but the animals and plants.

I think it’s time to start moving forward to banning herds of domestic animals from these beautiful and delicate areas.

Bryan Dear

Durango



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