Sheep Ranchers Deny that their Animals Infect Wild Bighorns

Western sheep ranchers deny that their animals can infect wild bighorns and claim in court the U.S. Forest Service is illegally barring their herds from a National Forest. The Idaho Wool Growers Association claims the Forest Service ruling is based on flawed science. Joining as plaintiffs are sheep ranchers in Colorado and Wyoming, the American Sheep Industry Association and the Public Lands Council. The sheep ranchers want to graze their herds in Payette National Forest, and challenge a 2010 Record of Decision by the Forest Service. "The decision was based on the theory that contact between domestic sheep and bighorns under range conditions results in the transmission of fatal pathogens from domestic sheep to bighorns 100 percent of the time," the sheep farmers say. "The Payette's 2010 decision was flawed with procedural defects and an inadequate record basis."...more