Signatures needed on bighorn congressional letter

The American Sheep Industry Association

A congressional letter regarding sheep grazing and bighorn sheep management will be sent to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in April. The letter is a follow-up to a June 2014 letter on the serious issue signed by 37 U.S. representatives and senators. It requests that the officials supply answers to questions asked by Congress last year that still require a response. It also points out the continued lack of cooperation between the U.S. Forest Service and the Agriculture Research Service in considering the science-based reasoning and expertise ARS has to offer in examining disease transmission.

Last year’s letter was bipartisan and bicameral, representing a very strong message to land-management agencies that are implementing a management framework developed in cooperation with Western Watersheds project, an anti-livestock grazing group. Sheep producers need to ensure the 2015 letter receives as much, if not more, support. Please reach out to your congressional delegation and ask them to join the letter.

In addition to this letter, the industry is requesting that language reflecting the bighorn concerns be included in the Appropriations for the Department of Interior for fiscal year 2016 report and bill language.
The draft letter, a copy of the Call to Action, a sample email to your congressional office and the report and bill language are all available by clicking on the Legislative Action Center link at www.sheepusa.org/IssuesPrograms_LegislativeActionCenter.

Industry meetings with the U.S. Forest Service in March indicated their proposed management framework is still in place, though moving at a slower pace than expected.