It’s well known, and scientifically confirmed, that domestic sheep carry strains of pneumonia that are devastating for bighorn sheep. Terribly, a single outbreak can kill most of the bighorn sheep in a herd. In addition, according to Colorado Parks & Wildlife research recently published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, significant lamb mortality can occur for many years in a herd after a single exposure.
Yet domestic sheep are allowed to graze on public lands in the vicinity of bighorn sheep in the Weminuche Wilderness. The sheep in question are owned by former Colorado State Rep. J. Paul Brown, who says, “I have been told that there have been two unverified sightings of a bighorn on or close to our allotments.”
As detailed in a joint issue statement of The Wildlife Society and the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, “Effective separation of domestic sheep from wild sheep is the only currently available management solution for preventing or minimizing disease transmission.” And according to Wild Sheep Foundation Conservation Director Kevin Hurley, anywhere the two animals cross paths, bighorns suffer.
In addition, as detailed in Petersen’s Hunting, the federal lands grazing program cost taxpayers $1 billion over the last decade. Federal grazing fees are some 10 percent of the “free market” rate on private land, meaning ranchers who graze on public land receive a 90 percent subsidy.
Why do hard-working taxpayers have to subsidize Brown’s sheep grazing?
And as an elk hunter stated in The Durango Herald: “A large herd of sheep was slow-grazed over this prime elk-hunting area … These sheep ate the grass and other vegetation down to the dirt, leaving nothing for the resident elk to eat. As a consequence … elk were nowhere to be found … This experience was shared by many elk hunters.”
According to the group Hunting Works for Colorado, roughly $465 million is spent annually on hunting within the state, with an overall ripple effect of $763 million for Coloradans. And elk hunting alone brings in an estimated $295 million. I doubt Brown can say the same about his taxpayer-subsidized sheep.
David Lien
Colorado Springs
Editor’s Note: Mr. Lien is a former Air Force officer, NRA life member and current chairman of the Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
