Bill would prohibit bighorns in sheep grazing areas

A Senate committee has voted to require the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to kill or remove bighorns that enter domestic sheep allotments on federal, state or private land. The Senate Natural Resources Committee voted 7-2 on a bill Republican Sen. Jeff Siddoway of Terreton said would protect private-property rights and Idaho livestock producers. Siddoway, a sheepherder and elk rancher, wants the state to kill or remove bighorns in grazing areas or certify that the risk of disease transmission from domestic sheep to wild sheep is acceptable. That would also apply to bighorns moved into areas with existing sheep or livestock operations, according to the Spokesman-Review. Several decisions the last several years have gone against domestic sheep producers in Idaho, including a decision by the U.S. Forest Service last year to restrict sheep grazing in some areas of the Payette National Forest. Three environmental groups had sued, arguing that diseases transmitted by domestic sheep could kill bighorns...AP