The Sheep That Stopped The Grizzly

Sarah Gilman of High Country News provided us with an informative piece on the little sheep station that could - talking, of course, about the feds' ARS Sheep Experiment Station.  The station, headquartered near Dubois, ID, has been minding its own business for years, providing research information to the sheep industry.  But then came the grizzly bear, the Endangered Species Act, and other federal agencies whose conservationist mandates have come into direct conflict with the station's sheep experimentation.

The place is the Centennial Mountains, an east to west range on the Idaho-Montana border.  If you're having a hard time pinning the place in your mind, think of the range on the border that stretches from Island Park west toward Spencer.  The station grazes sheep there as part of their research, as they always have.  The problem is that the grizzly bears are moving into the area, and conservationists who want the grizzly population to do what it will, know that the sheep are their biggest obstacle.

But how do the sheep keep the grizzlies from moving on, further up and further in to the rest of Idaho's and Montana's unadulterated grizzly habitat?  It's simple.  If a grizzly eats a sheep, he's a dead grizzly.  The fear is that the grizzlies may become such a predation problem that the only solution is to put them down.  But the sheep station doesn't see it the same way. 

The station says it won't be a problem.  The conservationists say it will.  Who's right?  I don't know, but it would seem that the conservationists probably are.  If the grizzly gets a taste of one lamb, the station might not scream.  But if he comes back for more, and then more, and then more... well, the scream will come sooner or later from a research station running out of sheep to research.  And I do imagine that the grizzly will come back for more chops.

But this sort of internal bickering, while amusing, doesn't even get to the crux of the related issue that nobody seems to be talking about.  That is - why exactly do we want the grizzly bears to spread anyway?

I understand that conservationists, and the federal agencies that carry out the agenda, want the wild to transform back to the way that Lewis and Clark found it.  And the Centennial Mountains are the link to getting grizzlies back up into Montana, and up all the way into the Selway Wilderness.  That is their goal, and it's not one that I share.

So for now, I hope the little sheep hold in there as the trap that can keep the grizzlies back.

~ J. Bunch

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Idaho Sheep Station Scrutiny Sheepishness

The U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, headquartered in Dubois, is under scrutiny. Just about everybody, from state government wildlife agencies to BLM to environmental groups, wants the station closed.

The main issues are concerns for grizzly, wolf, and bighorn sheep habitat. For some scientific reason, the sheep station, right in the middle of prime grizzly territory, is allegedly to blame as an impediment to grizzlies moving further west.

Wait, do we want grizzlies moving further west?

Personally, I don't. But leaving my opinion aside, how do sheep prevent grizzlies from expanding their range? I'm befuddled at that thought. The Experiment Station runs 3,000 sheep on 47,000 total acres of land - land that is, admittedly, grizzly land.

But really? Are the grizzlies scared of sheep? Do they feel the need to circle a wide swath around the little wooly creatures, and run back to last year's cave for safety? Or maybe the grizzlies don't move west because they have plenty of free lamb chops where they're at, and hear that the eatin' ain't so good out west. Yes, that must be it.

The Station has only put down one problem grizzly in recent years. And yet, bears do eat sheep from time to time. Both grizzlies and black bears. So far I'm on the side of the sheep Station. If they don't mind the threat of bears, then neither do I. It's not as if the sheep are eating up all the bears' forage and habitat. No, the sheep are free meals at worst (and how bad can that be?).

Environmentalists, if you want to do the best thing for the bears, let them stay put and feast on fresh lamb. If you don't think that's best for them, just ask them. Grizzlies have recovered nicely, thank you, and the closer we keep them to tourists in Yellowstone, the better.

I hunt the Centennial Mountains for elk and deer. And personally, I think it would be nice to not have to carry bear spray with me while doing so. Further, I wish my kids could dance under the moon, deep in the Centennial Mountain forests, all by their lonesomes, without any fear of safety. It seems I should be able to talk some of the real environmentalists into that side of the argument.

But of course there is the accompanying concern for the wolves. Please. Wolves and sheep are getting along just fine. I can think of many applicable fairy tales to insert here, but I'll just state that the argument that wolves are being held up in any way by a herd of 3,000 sheep is high lore.

Bighorn sheep? Sheep and Bighorns don't get along well. Well, actually they do. They get along a little too well, but the problem is that the contact between the two appear to be fatal for the bighorns. Simple solution: don't plant bighorns where sheep have historically grazed. If wildlife agencies would stop moving animals, half the problem would be solved. I know my argument is simplistic, and not universal. To be fair - the bighorn sheep concern is the most legit.

But lest you think this diatribe is the equivalent of a protest sign saying, "Save the Station," let me assure you that it is not. The station has been around since 1926, with the purpose of doing research on grazing. I'm sure that it provides some valuable data to other agencies, such as the BLM, when they are drafting grazing allotments of their own. But I doubt that the industry or other government agencies couldn't live without their research. It would seem that 80 years of research should be sufficient for now.

I'm sure there is a private sheepherder out there who would jump on the opportunity to graze where the Station is now.

For a less biased article, go here.

~ J. Bunch

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