In today's Daily Press:
Local bighorn population on the rise
State Fish and Game Department investigating possible poaching
Hillary Borrud February 05, 2007
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LYTLE CREEK — An estimated 740 bighorn sheep once roamed the San Gabriel Mountains, making the range home to the largest population of the protected animals in the United States, according to the Society for Conservation of Bighorn Sheep.
Those numbers decreased by over 80 percent by the 1980s due to unrestricted hunting and disease, among other factors but recently, the population has been on the rise, according to the society. About 290 animals were counted during last year’s annual census, said Steve Holl, a consultant who helped the Forest Service and California Department of Fish and Game draft a restoration program for the bighorns.
“One of the greatest embarrassments would be if one day, we had to admit that we had a beautiful population of bighorn sheep and we let them die out,” said John Hybarger, a member of the Society for Conservation of Bighorn Sheep board and a commissioner on the Los Angeles County Fish and Game Commission.
This year’s bighorn census will take place on Feb. 23 to 24, with volunteers hiking into roadless wilderness areas and biologists in a helicopter scouting for sheep from the air. The information gathered during the census, which began in 1979, helps agencies make population management decisions.
“There’s no way the agencies tasked to manage our wildlife can handle this,” said Dayan Anderson, a member of the Society for Conservation of Bighorn Sheep board. “They don’t have enough staff to do it,” she said, and tax dollars are in short supply.
Hunting of bighorn sheep is highly regulated. Hunters can enter a lottery for a once-in-alifetime chance at the animals, and rare hunting opportunities are also auctioned off for up to $80,000 with the proceeds going to fund management programs, Anderson said.
While the San Gabriel Mountains population has rebounded in recent years, the California Department of Fish and Game is still investigating the discovery of three sheep tracking collars that were discovered in mid-November last year without the animals, Kyle Orr, a spokesman for the agency said. Anderson said the collars were found at the same time a deer hunter went missing in the mountains.
Bighorn experts said several factors could be affecting the San Gabriel Mountains population. “Bighorn sheep prefer escape terrain, big rocky slopes where they can see if any threats are coming,” Anderson said. Lately, however, there have been fewer forest fires, allowing the sheep’s habitat to grow and increase in density.
An increase in mountain lions, which could have had artificially low numbers in the first half of the 20th century when the state offered a bounty for them, could also keep bighorns from increasing more quickly, Hybarger said.
First-time volunteer Darryl Evey said he is excited about hiking through wilderness areas for the census. “The area we’re going into is off-limits,” he said. “That’s why I’m into it.”
Survey participants must be at least 16 years old. No experience is necessary, but volunteers must attend a mandatory meeting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 at David Dreyer Hall, 11200 Baseline Road in Rancho Cucamonga.
For more information, call the Lytle Creek Ranger Station at (909) 382-2851. Volunteers must sign up no later than Feb. 15.
