In two different opinion pieces in The Durango Herald, Dan Parkinson (Feb. 12) and John Mumma (Dec. 11) mislead readers about our sheep grazing allotments on a very small part of the Weminuche Wilderness.
They both insinuated that bighorn sheep had been killed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife because they had mixed with our sheep and therefore would be exposed to a disease that would kill them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our sheep have never mixed with bighorns and the CPW has never killed a bighorn on our allotments.
My family has grazed sheep on the upper Florida River for 48 years. I have personally spent most of my summers on our allotments in every one of those years, and I have spent more nights in a bedroll in the Weminuche Wilderness than any man alive. I have never seen a bighorn sheep on our allotments. And none of my sheep herders, that I know of, has ever seen a bighorn on our allotments. I have been told that there have been two unverified sightings of a bighorn on or close to our allotments, but neither of those were reported close to where our sheep were grazing.
Kicking us off of our allotments would be the end of our ranching operation. There would be no more Sheep Trailing Days through Bayfield, and the open space and wildlife habitat that we provide with our private land would be subdivided. It would be the end of the income that we provide for the local economy. And it would be the end of the dream of our sons and grandchildren to continue the Brown family ranching business.
It is evident that some people are attempting to convince the community and the nation that domestic sheep are bad and can’t live in harmony with the bighorn sheep. We believe that is absolutely not true. Our allotments are up for renewal by the Forest Service. This must be done every 10 years.
Most allotments go through an Environmental Assessment, but because of threats of a lawsuit by radical environmental groups like Western Watersheds and others, the Forest Service is upgrading the review to an Environmental Impact Statement to make sure that there is no reason to be sued.
Potential domestic sheep contact with bighorns is a factor in the renewal of our allotments. I attended a Bighorn Sheep Symposium in Helena, Montana, where the best scientists in the world came together to talk about the latest information regarding the health of bighorn sheep. I want to learn everything that I possibly can about this issue so that I can help protect the health of the bighorn herds.
Domestic sheep have been blamed for the deaths of bighorns, and it is true that domestic sheep have the pathogens that can be spread to the bighorns, but hundreds of studies of bighorns show that those same pathogens are already in the bighorn herds. Also, it is thought that some bighorns have developed a natural immunity to diseases, making them more resilient.
There are studies being conducted on bighorns in the San Juan Mountains to see what pathogens they already have. Environmental issues like hard winters and drought are also reasons that bighorns die. Also, coyotes, bear, eagles and mountain lions eat baby bighorns. Since the Weminuche herd is not increasing as fast as expected, and has not been exposed to our sheep, I suggest that predation may be one of the reasons.
We are cooperating with the Forest Service to adopt management strategies in the event that bighorns might come close to our sheep. We have agreed to adjust the boundaries of our allotments. Sheep herders are with our sheep 24/7 and they are on the lookout for bighorns and will notify me and proper authorities if they see any.
In the event that a bighorn might come close to our sheep, the herders are trained to move our sheep away from the bighorns. We don’t agree with CPW that bighorns should be killed in all cases if they happen to mix with domestics. Why not tranquilize them, keep them alive and study what happens?
We have radio-collared some of our sheep so that the Forest Service can know where they are at all times. Bighorns are being collared so that we can know if they are ever close to our sheep.
We love the bighorn sheep and we will do everything that we can to protect them.
Sheep rancher J. Paul Brown of Ignacio is a former Colorado state representative from House District 59.
