{"id":65118,"date":"2020-03-31T00:14:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T06:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/j-paul-brown-to-reduce-sheep-herd-amid-disease-concerns-for-bighorns\/"},"modified":"2020-03-31T06:14:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T06:14:46","slug":"j-paul-brown-to-reduce-sheep-herd-amid-disease-concerns-for-bighorns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/j-paul-brown-to-reduce-sheep-herd-amid-disease-concerns-for-bighorns\/","title":{"rendered":"J. Paul Brown to reduce sheep herd amid disease concerns for bighorns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"J.
J. Paul Brown looks over his sheep at their winter range Saturday near Aztec. Brown has agreed to a buyout on one grazing allotment in the Weminuche Wilderness that poses a risk to bighorns.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A conservation group has bought out one of Ignacio rancher J. Paul Brown\u2019s grazing allotments in the Weminuche Wilderness to reduce the risk his sheep pose to native bighorns, but critics say the issue is still not resolved.<\/p>\n

For the past eight years, the U.S. Forest Service has wrestled with whether to continue to allow domestic sheep grazing in the Weminuche<\/a>, Colorado\u2019s largest wilderness area.<\/p>\n

The most recent development happened in 2018, when the Forest Service threw out a previous study that was clear in its determination that bighorns are at a heightened risk for disease in the presence of domestic sheep.<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that if the animals come into contact, domestic sheep can pass a deadly bacteria to bighorns, which the native animal can in turn bring back to its herd and potentially cause widespread die-off.<\/p>\n

For the past few years, the Forest Service has taken the stance it would wait until clearer science was available, saying \u201cuncertain impacts from potential domestic sheep transmission to bighorn\u201d warrant more study.<\/p>\n

But about a year ago, Brown began talks with the National Wildlife Federation, which has a program that pays ranchers to retire controversial grazing allotments throughout the West.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis approach works when there\u2019s a conflict between a wildlife species and livestock grazing, and when this opportunity makes sense for the rancher and their operation,\u201d said Bob McCready with the NWF.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the two sides announced they had reached an undisclosed agreement for an 11,000-acre allotment called Endlich Mesa, considered a high-risk area for domestic sheep and bighorns to come into contact.<\/p>\n

For Brown, he said the deal made sense for his operation and family at this time. One of his sons, Levi, is leaving the ranching business, so Brown was able to use some of the money from the buyout to help cover his son\u2019s investments.<\/p>\n

\"J.
J. Paul Brown, left, and Peruvian herder, John Edgar, say they do everything they can to reduce contact between domestic sheep and native bighorns.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cEven though I don\u2019t really like it, in this case, it worked out,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt seemed to be the best thing for us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result of the deal, Brown\u2019s herd will go from three to two bands, a reduction of about 800 sheep. To diversify the ranch, he said the operation will likely invest more in cattle, which don\u2019t pose the same risk to bighorns.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s still unclear what the Forest Service will ultimately decide for Brown\u2019s other allotments on the Weminuche, which total around 40,000 acres.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman with the Forest Service wrote in an email that the vacating of Endlich Mesa does not change the agency\u2019s review of Brown\u2019s herd grazing in the Weminuche.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to collect more data \u2026 for analysis of the risks associated with contact between domestic sheep and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep for the Weminuche grazing environmental impact statement,\u201d the spokeswoman wrote.<\/p>\n

Dan Parkinson, an advocate with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said retiring the Endlich Mesa allotment is a step in the right direction, but doesn\u2019t solve the issue of bighorns coming in contact with sheep in other grazing areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cClosing Endlich gives the bighorns a little more elbow room, but it doesn\u2019t reduce the greater risk,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s still there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The area Brown runs livestock extends from the northern end of Missionary Ridge toward the Pine River, and there\u2019s the potential for habitat overlap for the estimated 500 native bighorns spread out in about three herds.<\/p>\n

Parkinson said that already, bighorns are struggling to survive as a result of the domestic sheep there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe threat is still there, and the clock is ticking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In recent years, values have clashed between ranchers, whose livelihoods depend on grazing on public lands, and conservationists, who are fighting for the long-term survival of bighorn sheep.<\/p>\n

But across the West, public land agencies and courts have ruled in favor of taking domestic sheep off the landscape for the betterment of bighorns.<\/p>\n

The most significant decision was in 2010, when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Payette National Forest Service\u2019s decision in Idaho to phase out active sheep permits because of the risk of disease transmission.<\/p>\n

\"Ignacio
Ignacio rancher J. Paul Brown said he will reduce about 800 sheep from his herd as a result of a buyout of one of his grazing allotments on the Weminuche Wilderness.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

More recently, the Bureau of Land Management this year is proposing measures around Gunnison, Hinsdale and Ouray counties that are intended to reduce the risk of the two animals coming in contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consensus science says that domestic sheep grazing on public lands are a major threat to bighorns,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cAnd that separation of the species is required for the bighorns to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said his family took into account these major rulings elsewhere in the country when deciding to accept the buyout, but that it wasn\u2019t the driving factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons I hate to do this,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want this idea that we\u2019re capitulating because of some court ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said the jury is still out on the science of whether domestic sheep transmit diseases to bighorns. And, he said his herders do everything possible to make sure sheep don\u2019t escape or come into contact with the wild animals.<\/p>\n

He and his family\u2019s livelihood relies on being able to graze on public land, Brown said. And he said he suspects that for many, the core of the issue is a blanket opposition to any grazing on public lands.<\/p>\n

Brown, who is in his late 60s, said he and his wife, Debbie, will continue ranching for a few more years. As for the future, he hopes one of his children or grandchildren will take over the more than 50-year-old operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to pass that legacy on,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they have to be able to make a living.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

out one of Ignacio rancher\u2019s high-risk grazing allotments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1030,738,13,28,29,1263,199,722,549,1924],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-65118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-environment","tag-environmental-issue","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-ranching","tag-san-juan-national-forest","tag-state-rep-j-paul-brown","tag-united-states-forest-service","tag-weminuche-wilderness"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65118"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=65118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}