ND Bighorn Deaths

[BigRack]

Every day without a “beep beep beep beep beep” in his earphones is a very good day for big game biologist Brett Wiedmann.

The beeps are a radio collar mortality signal and they mean yet another of the state’s prized bighorn sheep has died.

Starting Aug. 5, in what was a long deadly month, at least 20 of the animals have died of pneumonia in the northern Badlands habitat. Tests show the disease is from contact with domestic sheep. It is spreading among the several bighorn groups in what Wiedmann calls “the hub of the wheel” for bighorns.

As if the fatal disease weren’t bad enough, 14 of the dead were among a group of two dozen transplanted in February from a pristine location in the Alberta, Canada Northern Rocky Mountain region.

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/sta...cle_69818f0c-3860-11e4-98f7-001a4bcf887a.html

 

[MT_elk]

Sad news!

 

[Dinkshooter]

Awesome!

Stop wearing wool! And do not eat lamb chops! period!

 

[Dinkshooter]

Mutton sucks!

 

[smalls]

Plucking phuck.

As if the habitat losses in western ND weren't enough. Now some irresponsible range maggot owner "lost" 35 little Bo peeps and will single hand idly destroy the long standing protection effort of big horns in this state. Ranching and Ag bill themselves as the "original" conservationists when reall they pose the biggest single threat to OUR wildlife in this state.

The state is sitting on billions with a horribly written conservation bill to hit ballots this fall that the Ag complex will never let pass. I grow more cynical and pessimistic about the future of outdoor heritage every single day.

 

[ForkYouCattleCo]

Be careful how you word or talk bout agriculture.......
I in fact had THE RANCH where the first sheep were transported into years ago. I had that placed leased for a few years and I had a resident herd of about 30 sheep. 2 of the rams were MONSTERS! And there isn't a single domestic sheep for miles around. Do your homework, other sheep herds are suffering the same plight as ours here in ND.
As a lifelong rancher and hunter, I see the struggles of "life" more than probably anyone. I am a huge proponent for sustainability and I am a consummate steward of the land. I happen to be 5th gen and my kids 6th gen on this place. I feel it more than anyone, what the affects of the "patch" is doing to MY home. I live in the epi center of the oil field. And I would dearly like to see more of the oil money stay here in my community, than have it all kept in a state coffer, and sent to all lot you people in the eastern part of the state.
Come walk a mile in a ranchers shoes for a while, and see the mess we have.
As far as wild life, the unsavory people who move here aren't what you think. It's all the guys who poach the big bucks and shoot the upland game out of season.
I'll try to post a pic of an antelope and a dandy muley that were poached and left to rot on my place.
The animals have adapted well to the oil, it really doesn't affect them after a bit. Look an WY, CO, NM, TX. They all have oil too.

 

[ForkYouCattleCo]

We have more wildlife here in ND than ever. Sure the blue tongue hit us and a record winter hit the muleys. It was like this 17 years ago as well. But those deer live on my alfalfa and wheat fields. And I actually spent a considerable amount of money and time trying to keep the deer alive 4 years ago when the snow was so seep I would bury a 4 wheel drive tractor trying to get hay bales set out in the coulees and canyons for them to survive off of.
The farm bill has nothing to do with wildlife. Actually the largest amount of money that has come from the oilfield HAS gone for wildlife. And not on improving the roads, hospitals, or schools in the affected counties. And I don't know a single rancher/farmer where I live that doesn't love and try to protect the wildlife we have here. WE are the original conservationists.
Don't bash what you don't know or fully have the facts on. Try living here and looking at some giant muleys and not being able to draw a tag for your own land that you own. I haven't drawn a deer tag for 3B1 in 8 years. I can't get a gratis tag, because I put in for the draw. I let em grow, and soon enough ill draw a tag.

 

[smalls]

Fork,

I color myself with no envy that you have been subjected to the changes the patch has brought on in western ND. Infrastructure issues you mentioned have got to be addressed and post haste. I think the speed of development in this state has surpassed the ability of our legislature to allocate proper funding on an every other year basis. But, to say that oil and gas development hasn't had an effect on wildlife populations in other states quite misinformed.

I grew up in agriculture and I have had the pleasure of both making money and going broke trying to make my living off the land. My great grandparents homesteaded in Cartwright and are buried in the tiny "no name cemetery" near the confluence. In the last three decades I have seen glacial shift in practices and policy surrounding ag. It is because of my love of ag and of conservation that this shit frustrates me to such a degree. So don't tell me that I "don't know".

Conservation, hunting, and ag have a schizophrenic relationship in ND. With the vast majority of the state being privately owned, of course the wildlife lives on private land. We often confuse the fact that wildlife lives on private land with the notion that private land owners are "protecting" wildlife. Conservation has continued to become more inconvenient as $100 oil and $6 corn change the landscape of this state. Economics are changing how the land is being used, and if you cannot see that this is the biggest threat to wildlife, I would love to hear what controllable variable may have a bigger impact.

 

[TheTone]

Awesome!

Stop wearing wool! And do not eat lamb chops! period!

I just make sure the wool I buy is imported

 

[ForkYouCattleCo]

I have had the pleasure of hunting many western states, from blacktail and bear in California, to Sheep in WY while I was in college, to elk in MT, CO, OR, UT. And even chasing lions and couse deer in AZ one winter. I have seen the oil patch at its best and at its worst, as I have worked in the oilfield most of my adult life, and been down in CO and in WY while working in the patch. I have yet to see a measureable change it wildlife because of the oil. The biggest threat to wildlife, is in fact, the NFS, BLM, EPA, and so many of the other Govt agencies that have much larger cynical hidden agendas for the publicly held ground. Our forefathers who wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights, did so to prevent a Govt that had as much control over states, as that of the US Govt has in most western States. NV-85%, UT-57%, MT-40%, WY-42%, ID-50%, AZ-45%, NM-42%, OR-53%...the list goes on. Everyone preaches that those are OUR lands, when in fact they are getting further and further away from vast public use. Trail, road closures, no horseback travel, no mountain bikes, no more AMU's on grazing allotments that have been around for longer than most of the people who are in the NFS, BLM, EPA. It has been proven time and time again, that agriculture is a HUGE steward of the land and the wildlife. Sage Hens- their numbers have been declining with the decline of cattle on the ranges, desert tortises, have rapidly declined with the decline of cattle, and less predatory control on the varmints and predators that are out there. Americans as a general rule now, onlyl listen to the gloom and doom, and bad publicity of the HSUS, PETA, EPA, NFS, BLM, on a vast amount of issues. Cattlemen, and sheepmen, along with hunters and supporters of wildlife, make the improvements to the land that ALL animals need, water, native browse, riparian areas. and so forth. And if you take the time to study sheep numbers across North America, they are all battling the same virus, and some of those herds, as is the case of the herd here in the Badlands, have never come into contact with domestic sheep. Its just a part of the cycle I guess, but we have the resources to combat it, and the right people trying to find a successful treatment/remedy for this malady that has befallen the sheep.
And yes ND, is 95% private ground, but we are stewards of the land and wildlife, you tend to see that more here in McKenzie County than anywhere, as 99% of the population are sportsmen who have seen the good times and the down times, like we are experiencing now due to winter kills, and EHD in the whitetails. It is just part of the cycle, we take the initiative, to not shoot deer, when numbers are down, and when numbers are up, we invite others to come on our land to help manage the numbers.

And yes, ND is probably THE MOST corrupt state in the union now, due to the oil, it will leave again like it always has, and we will be left to pick up the pieces like we always have. As you know, we are a very resilient and determined type of people who call ND home. My only wish, would be that our sheep population would keep increasing, and that more opportunities would be made available to more for those hunts, as I learned first hand, sheep hunting IS the most addictive hunt in the world, but it truly has become the sport for the rich.

Next time you are on the western edge of the Badlands, look me up, would love to show you the ranch and that agriculture is moving forward to better things, now that we have more and more of the younger generation moving home, and taking us forward, have to see how it goes!!!!

 

[mtmiller]

 

[BigRack]

Do you have something to say?

 

[mtmiller]

No, lost.

 

[OriginalOscar]

I have had the pleasure of hunting many western states, from blacktail and bear in California, to Sheep in WY while I was in college, to elk in MT, CO, OR, UT. And even chasing lions and couse deer in AZ one winter. I have seen the oil patch at its best and at its worst, as I have worked in the oilfield most of my adult life, and been down in CO and in WY while working in the patch. I have yet to see a measureable change it wildlife because of the oil. The biggest threat to wildlife, is in fact, the NFS, BLM, EPA, and so many of the other Govt agencies that have much larger cynical hidden agendas for the publicly held ground. Our forefathers who wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights, did so to prevent a Govt that had as much control over states, as that of the US Govt has in most western States. NV-85%, UT-57%, MT-40%, WY-42%, ID-50%, AZ-45%, NM-42%, OR-53%...the list goes on. Everyone preaches that those are OUR lands, when in fact they are getting further and further away from vast public use. Trail, road closures, no horseback travel, no mountain bikes, no more AMU's on grazing allotments that have been around for longer than most of the people who are in the NFS, BLM, EPA. It has been proven time and time again, that agriculture is a HUGE steward of the land and the wildlife. Sage Hens- their numbers have been declining with the decline of cattle on the ranges, desert tortises, have rapidly declined with the decline of cattle, and less predatory control on the varmints and predators that are out there. Americans as a general rule now, onlyl listen to the gloom and doom, and bad publicity of the HSUS, PETA, EPA, NFS, BLM, on a vast amount of issues. Cattlemen, and sheepmen, along with hunters and supporters of wildlife, make the improvements to the land that ALL animals need, water, native browse, riparian areas. and so forth. And if you take the time to study sheep numbers across North America, they are all battling the same virus, and some of those herds, as is the case of the herd here in the Badlands, have never come into contact with domestic sheep. Its just a part of the cycle I guess, but we have the resources to combat it, and the right people trying to find a successful treatment/remedy for this malady that has befallen the sheep.
And yes ND, is 95% private ground, but we are stewards of the land and wildlife, you tend to see that more here in McKenzie County than anywhere, as 99% of the population are sportsmen who have seen the good times and the down times, like we are experiencing now due to winter kills, and EHD in the whitetails. It is just part of the cycle, we take the initiative, to not shoot deer, when numbers are down, and when numbers are up, we invite others to come on our land to help manage the numbers.

And yes, ND is probably THE MOST corrupt state in the union now, due to the oil, it will leave again like it always has, and we will be left to pick up the pieces like we always have. As you know, we are a very resilient and determined type of people who call ND home. My only wish, would be that our sheep population would keep increasing, and that more opportunities would be made available to more for those hunts, as I learned first hand, sheep hunting IS the most addictive hunt in the world, but it truly has become the sport for the rich.

Next time you are on the western edge of the Badlands, look me up, would love to show you the ranch and that agriculture is moving forward to better things, now that we have more and more of the younger generation moving home, and taking us forward, have to see how it goes!!!!

Wow! Best Tea Party rant I've heard in awhile. A few thoughts

1) Public lands are our heritage and the government is tasked with managing those lands for the long term, for multiple uses and controlling access is just a management tool. Would you let me and my ATV club ride nilly willy over your ranch whenever we want?

2) Constitution specifically retains lands not deeded to states. The Utah state enabling act specifically ceded all lands to federal ownership during statehood. Same process followed in other states.

3) Nobody makes money on sheep until the government wool check arrives. States spend millions for bighorns and one range maggot can implode the entire herd.

4) Many ranchers and farmers are great land stewards. It's also preferable to have cows over cabins. If it's not being grazed it will probably be sold and subdivided. That said wildlife is public property and landowners should respect the publics input on wildlife issues.

 

[BigRack]

Wow! Best Tea Party rant I've heard in awhile. A few thoughts

1) Public lands are our heritage and the government is tasked with managing those lands for the long term, for multiple uses and controlling access is just a management tool. Would you let me and my ATV club ride nilly willy over your ranch whenever we want?

2) Constitution specifically retains lands not deeded to states. The Utah state enabling act specifically ceded all lands to federal ownership during statehood. Same process followed in other states.

3) Nobody makes money on sheep until the government wool check arrives. States spend millions for bighorns and one range maggot can implode the entire herd.

4) Many ranchers and farmers are great land stewards. It's also preferable to have cows over cabins. If it's not being grazed it will probably be sold and subdivided. That said wildlife is public property and landowners should respect the publics input on wildlife issues.

I may have missed it but he said nothing about States taking over Federal land.

 

[mtmiller]

I may have missed it but he said nothing about States taking over Federal land.

Rack, since I missed it, could you tell me what he said?

 

[BigRack]

Rack, since I missed it, could you tell me what he said?

He said landowners take care of their land and livestock because it directly affects them financially.

I don't know why you are being a smart ass.

 

[mtmiller]

I have yet to see a measureable change it wildlife because of the oil.

citation?

The biggest threat to wildlife, is in fact, the NFS, BLM, EPA, and so many of the other Govt agencies that have much larger cynical hidden agendas for the publicly held ground.

Elaborate please.

 

[OriginalOscar]

Our forefathers who wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights, did so to prevent a Govt that had as much control over states, as that of the US Govt has in most western States. NV-85%, UT-57%, MT-40%, WY-42%, ID-50%, AZ-45%, NM-42%, OR-53%...the list goes on.

Implied in my opinion. Perhaps he will expound on this statement.

 

[ForkYouCattleCo]

If you check, there isn't a single sheep rancher near the bighorn herd in ND. And like stated previously nearly all of the bighorn herds in N America are affected. And many in areas were there are no sheep and haven't been any sheep in decades. I love to hunt and plan on hunting for as long as i physically can. With that said, I do disagree with how some public lands are being taken over by the fed govt. look at the front range up by Augusta MT, it's a fed land grab, no mountain bikers, no livestock, no public access. Look at the Shasta River in northern Cali where some of my family ranch, completely shut down to ANY use. And the Nature Conservancy is buying up land like crazy in many areas. With no economical benefit to any one, and there is definitely no hunting or fishing on many of those properties they have bought. Public land is for the use of people to enjoy, however they like. Some of it does need restrictions placed on it. But it is very tiring to keep hearing that the rancher is the doom of all animals. Case in point...Look at what happened on the Buenos Aires ranch in southern AZ. rancher sold out to the state/Feds. Water tanks deteriorated, mesquite took over, and there are no longer any hunt able game populations left. Even the antelope they turned out on it, left for a huge hay farm north of it.
The answer to many of the problems with this, lay not with more govt, but with hunters. We as a group need to make our voices heard, and the same goes for agriculture. For too long, both have known they were right and never voiced their views, the radicals get the press, and lets face it, Americans like bad press, and act like sheep a majority of the time, one following the other.
All I was stating originally was, don't be so quick to pass judgement. Make sure you are informed and have the facts. Just because I ranch doesn't make me any worse then say an electrician. I relish my DIY hunts on public land, and hope that we can continue to have that ability. The current administration, doesn't like hunters very much, and they want to control every aspect they can of public ground without input from us as a people