From Deseret News archives:
Bighorn sheep return to historic New Mexico range along Rio Grande Gorge
Petroglyphs chiseled into boulders up and down the river depict big-horned mammals, but it was long ago that the majestic animals disappeared from the area.
State and federal wildlife managers have been working years on the prospect of reintroducing the past, and they took a major step over the weekend as they lifted the latch on a livestock trailer and a group of bighorn sheep after bit of hesitation thundered out, scrambling one after the other up the rocks.
"They belong here. They're part of the diversity," Sam DesGeorges, head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's field office in Taos, said after Saturday's release. "Having the habitat and the animals that occupy that habitat is very important biologically."
The work continued Monday as Elise Goldstein, a bighorn sheep biologist with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, set up radio frequencies so the animals could be tracked and their progress monitored.
"It's exciting," she said of the restoration efforts. "It's really nice to be a part of something where the populations are doing well."
New Mexico has about 1,000 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, including herds in the Pecos, Wheeler and Latir Wilderness areas in the north, the Manzano Mountains southeast of Albuquerque and two areas in the Gila National Forest in the south.
Crews with the state Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Forest Service and Taos Pueblo used drop nets baited with salt blocks to capture 25 sheep in the Pecos Wilderness early Saturday.
The animals were examined, given shots, outfitted with radio collars and trucked to the release site along the gorge just south of Taos. It marked the first time Rocky Mountain bighorn have been released on land managed by the BLM.
The sheep were let go midway along the 82-mile gorge, a sliver carved into layers of basalt by the Rio Grande, the nation's third-longest river.
Comments
- Tiger opens with a 66 in Australia 1:18 a.m.
- Crash kills Utah County man 1:12 a.m.
- UCAT cheaper education option 1:12 a.m.
- Post office to be named for Rex Lee 1:11 a.m.
- Police probe synagogue vandalism 1:09 a.m.
- New charges added in fraud case 1:09 a.m.
- Mom takes plea deal in girl's beating 1:08 a.m.
- Drug trafficking operation busted 1:07 a.m.
- News yule writing contest starting up 12:59 a.m.
- Alpine District school honored 12:59 a.m.
- SLC council OKs gay rights policies
- Utah Jazz have a problem at point
- 'Love story' of crash victim ends
- BYU football recruit turning heads
- Alta's Ohai is Ms. Soccer 2009
- Prep football: Felt's Facts Week
- 12 Utes return to Texas
- Cougars' defensive hoops clinic
- Wyoming writer amazed by BYU
- Long days for BYU interns
- House passes health care bill
287 - SLC council OKs gay rights policies
246 - TCU showdown has big implications
193 - Senators want food tax restored
157 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - S.L. vote pending on gay protections
109 - Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
101 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
92
Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh get the audience they deserve and vice versa. ...
I find the rule,very discriminitory. I am not gay, I don't understand what...
I understand we were outmanned last night. However, this effort was awful....
My advice to Jonathan is shoot it when they pass it to you as soon as you...
Maybe they should try drafting a shooting guard who can shoot from outside ....
The sad thing about it is that there are actually people out there that are...
Thank you TCU and BYU. Your wanting to beat Utah so bad has to drive you...
Play fes and koufos. Look to the future. It looks like we will have two...
Oh come on. Obama's a horrible president, but I couldn't care less which...
"We had the best soccer of any place in the state. There's no disputing...


You can be the first to comment on this story.