The following are excerpts from

THE BIGHORN
Official Newsletter of the Bighorn Institute

Critical Habitat Re-Designation
In February of 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated nearly 845,000 acres of Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties as critical habitat for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep. Developments that are proposed within designated areas must abide by strict protocols that would not alter the land or by any means threaten the sheep’s survival. The designation was an important step towards the bighorn’s recovery as it provided extra protection for the land.

The USFWS was sued by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians over the land designation, which resulted in the need for a new determination of critical sheep habitat. In April 2009, the USFWS reduced the critical habitat by 55% and designated a mere 376,938 acres of land as critical Peninsular bighorn sheep habitat. In June 2009, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the Desert Protective Council, Desert Survivors and the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society filed a notice of intent to sue the USFWS for reducing the critical habitat for the sheep with no scientific data to support the reduction of critical habitat.

An animal’s habitat is crucial to its survival. During the rut, rams can travel through movement corridors between ranges in search of ewes to breed. This promotes gene flow, which is essential to maintaining healthy herds. Rams find these movement corridors in continuous habitat, but this re-designation has cut off two known movement corridors. This can isolate subgroups from each other, which can lead to extirpation of bighorn in parts of the Peninsular Range. Sufficient lands must be set aside for recovery of the species. The current land protection does not account for Peninsular bighorn sheep population growth. If there is not adequate, protected habitat available, the population will remain at low levels and fail to fully recover.

The reduction of critical habitat for Peninsular bighorn is very concerning. We hope that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will use the data available to determine a new, scientifically defensible designation of habitat if recovery of this endangered species is to continue.

The Consequences of Their Interaction
In mid-September 2009, a ram that was released in 2006 from the Institute into Blaisdell Canyon of the San Jacinto Mountains (SJM) was observed with a domestic goat. Domestic sheep and goats are known to transmit diseases to wild sheep, which is why every possible precaution is taken to avoid wild sheep/domestic sheep and goat interactions. Once a bighorn sheep herd has a disease issue, it is difficult to stop the process; it must run its course. By that time, a significant portion of the population could be lost and those bighorn that do not succumb to the disease may harbor the pathogens and continue to spread the disease. After reviewing all available options, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Bighorn Institute made a unanimous decision to lethally remove the ram and goat.

The SJM bighorn herd is the smallest subgroup in the Peninsular Ranges. There are just 28 adult bighorn with a mere 16 females. This ram was known to mix with the rest of the herd during the breeding season, which could have devastated this herd beyond the ability to recover. It has already taken 8 years to build up this ewe group from 4 females to 16 females. As difficult of a decision it was to remove the ram, the risks far outweighed allowing the ram to roam free. Unfortunately, there was no captive facility that could take the ram, but even so, a healthy adult wild ram would destroy an enclosure if put into captivity or stress himself in the process. The Institute has always brought in young animals so they can acclimate to a captive environment.

It is unknown where the domestic goat came from. There are two domestic goat farms in Blaisdell Canyon, although neither farm recognizes the goat in the wild nor were they missing a goat. The USFWS and CDFG have been discussing solutions to resolve this problem, such as double-fencing the goat farms before any future releases take place in Blasidell. While this has been a disappointing end to an incredibly successful trial, we have learned much. Blaisdell Canyon can sustain a bighorn population as they did in the 1970s, despite the lack of plant diversity. In addition, the range has now been expanded for this herd, which facilitates recovery. We are optimistic that these issues will be resolved and in the near future we will once again reintroduce sheep back into this area.

Lack of Funding Cancels Captures
Peninsular bighorn captures are conducted in the fall on a bi-annual basis and 2009 was a capture year. There is significant planning that takes place months prior to each capture and includes securing funding. Since the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) was signed into effect in October 2008, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) is now responsible to provide monitoring money for each of the 27 species covered under the Plan, which includes bighorn captures. Unfortunately, it’s been over a year since the Plan was enacted and funding has not been allotted for bighorn sheep. CVAG initially indicated that money would be available for the capture, but it was not, and capture plans were cancelled.

It is imperative that this 75 year plan for development upholds its responsibilities of protecting the affected species by ensuring proper monitoring. Captures provide an opportunity to health-test a portion of the herd, which provides an estimation of overall herd health, as well as, place radio-collars on a number of sheep. Radio-collars allow for the collection of survival, reproductive, demographic and ecological data that is vital for endangered species management.

In October, the wildlife agencies were able to scrounge up just enough funds to conduct a much-needed capture in the San Jacinto Mountains. However, there are now 24 radio-collars ordered for the fall 2009 captures that sit in storage and may lose valuable battery life. We are hoping that the captures will be rescheduled for the fall of 2010, pending funding from CVAG. Most importantly, we hope that necessary funding will be made available to monitor the largest endangered species in our desert, the bighorn.

Update: Cornishe of Bighorn
Cornishe of Bighorn is a development project adjacent to the Institute that could build 2 luxury homes on a 12-acre private parcel located just 240 yards from the Institute’s lambing pen. The homes will be within the 400-yard buffer zone that was established on nearby Canyons at Bighorn, to protect the captive herd of bighorn sheep from habituating to construction and urbanization. Cornishe of Bighorn does not have to abide by this buffer since it is a privately owned parcel. The close proximity of Cornishe of Bighorn could cause the captive herd to habituate to the point they will no longer be fit to be released into the wild, thus thwarting recovery efforts. In February 2009, the Palm Desert City Council approved the Cornishe of Bighorn Project. In March 2009, the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the City of Palm Desert and California Department of Fish and Game regarding the City’s approval of the Project. So far, attempts at negotiations have failed.

In February 2010, the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity filed another lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Game for allowing the project to proceed without requiring a streambed alteration permit. By not requiring this permit, CDFG has essentially “approved” the project by failing to deny it.

It is imperative that the wildlife agencies support these captive breeding recovery efforts and enforce the 400-yard buffer. We are hopeful that these lawsuits will prompt the agencies involved to resolve the issue and find a solution that works for all.

 

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