2 dozen Bighorn Sheep killed in Thompson Falls area construction zone
By The Associated Press

THOMPSON FALLS -- At least 25 bighorn sheep have been struck and killed by vehicles since January in a construction zone on Montana 200, more than twice the average number killed by vehicles in a year, state wildlife officials said.

"I think (the increase in sheep killed) is attributable to the highway construction," said Bruce Sterling, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist in Thompson Falls. "Not that there is anything they can do about it."

On Monday, Sterling flew over the cliffs above the Clark Fork Canyon near Thompson Falls for an annual population count of bighorn sheep. He found that an unprecedented number of bighorn sheep had been killed during this spring's green-up.

In early spring, female sheep and their young congregate close to the highway to eat the first tender shoots of vegetation that emerge along the side of the roadway.

Sterling said his count doesn't include sheep that were hit and were able to walk away from the road, but died later of their injuries.

Sterling said the fact that the road is blocked for extended periods of time between Plains and Thompson Falls could be a contributing factor.

"Then you have people speed up to catch the construction pilot car, or they've been delayed and when they do get through the construction site they really get speeding," Sterling said. "The other things is, you get a string of 40 to 60 cars, and I think the sheep panic" because they find no openings to cross the road for such a long period of time.

The Thompson Falls herd, established in 1959, included about 225 sheep before the spring construction season began. Hunting is limited to 10 ram permits a year, because of normal highway mortality. The number of permits will not change this year, Sterling said.

"The population is strong enough so that it can withstand it, but if we were to continue to lose that many that would reduce reproduction and recruitment, and it could have an effect down the road" on the already limited hunting season, he said.

The Thompson Falls herd also has been used to supply sheep for transplants elsewhere, but that hasn't happened for years because of highway mortality, Sterling said.


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Published on Tuesday, April 18, 2006.
Last modified on 4/18/2006 at 11:55 am

From: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/04/18/news...truction-bighorn.txt

Sad, sad situation!