Number: 2015-03
WHEREAS, bighorn sheep populations in the western United States are estimated to have numbered between 1.5 and 2.0 million animals at the start of the 19th century but have declined and today estimates range between 33,000-80,000 animals; and
WHEREAS, the major causes of this decline were unregulated hunting and the introduction of disease, principally pneumonia, associated with Euro-American settlement; and
WHEREAS, efforts to restore bighorn sheep populations are hampered by the persistence and spread of pneumonia in both previously-affected and naïve populations; and
WHEREAS, extensive research and anecdotal data have documented the transmission of pneumonia causing bacteria species from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep under both captive and wild conditions and strongly implicate infection from domestic sheep as a primary mechanism of introduction of pneumonia into bighorn sheep populations; and
WHEREAS, the historic and current range of remnant bighorn sheep populations in the western United States is proximate to or overlapped by domestic sheep grazing allotments on federal land in some areas; and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding future research and technological breakthroughs, separation of domestic sheep from bighorn sheep has been determined to most effectively minimize the likelihood of transmission of pneumonia from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep; and
WHEREAS, research on Best Management Practices (BMPs) to promote separation between domestic and bighorn sheep has shown them to be ineffective partially due to human management error and continued straying of domestic sheep; and
WHEREAS, the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have developed a model to quantify the risk of contact between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep with the support of three states (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho), four federally-recognized American Indian tribes (the Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes), and academic researchers; and
WHEREAS, this model has undergone extensive academic peer review and been developed into a user-friendly planning tool known as the “Bighorn Sheep Risk of Contact Tool”; and
WHEREAS, the use of this tool, scientific data to date, and management decisions associated with their use have been litigated and affirmed in Federal Court; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Forest Service has initiated an assessment of the risk of contact between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep within Region 4 of its lands using the Bighorn Sheep Risk of Contact Tool; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management have designated bighorn sheep as a sensitive species in at least portions of their range; and
WHEREAS, both the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land management are considering programmatic reviews of their bighorn sheep and domestic sheep management policies nationwide; and
WHEREAS, researchers are developing tools to determine the source of bacterial transmissions associated with discrete disease events, thus identifying parties responsible for damages to public resources;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation, in its Annual Meeting assembled March 27-29, 2015 in Shepherdstown, Virginia, recognizes that ongoing disease in bighorn sheep populations has compromised past restoration efforts and is likely to continue to do so without changes in management; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation recognizes that separation of domestic sheep from bighorn sheep is the best available means to minimize the likelihood of transmission of pneumonia from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation recognizes that the Bighorn Sheep Risk of Contact Tool represents the best available science on the issue of separation between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation recommends the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management amend their policies to recognize the Bighorn Sheep Risk of Contact Tool as the best available science on the issue of separation between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep, relevant to both identifying areas of concern and developing strategies to reduce the risk of contact between the species; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, National Wildlife Federation recommends the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management use the Bighorn Sheep Risk of Contact Tool to assess risk to bighorn sheep populations across their lands, nationwide; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation recommends the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management, as they conduct their nationwide risk of contact assessments, adopt a very low tolerance of contact risk as estimated by the Bighorn Sheep Risk of Contact Tool; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation endorses moving domestic sheep away from bighorn sheep through the voluntary retirement of domestic sheep allotments or conversion to domestic cattle on U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands or agency adjustment of allotments as a means of reducing the risk of contact between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation endorses moving domestic sheep away from bighorn sheep through the voluntary retirement of domestic sheep allotments or conversion to domestic cattle on U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands or agency adjustment of allotments as a means of reducing the risk of contact between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the National Wildlife Federation recommends that U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management staff work with conservation organizations to engage domestic sheep grazing permittees with grazing allotments of priority concern, to identify opportunities to either retire allotments or convert them to domestic cattle.