California bighorn sheep at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Credit: Photo by Zachary McCoy / Hart Mountain NAR / USFWS LAKEVIEW, Ore. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is releasing a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a management plan to address a significant decline in the California bighorn sheep population on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. The Service is opening a 45-day public comment period on the draft EIS. The bighorn sheep population on the refuge has declined by 67% in four years, dropping from 149 sheep in 2017 to 48 in 2020. This trend puts the population at risk of extirpation without management intervention.
California bighorn sheep at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Credit: Photo by Zachary McCoy / Hart Mountain NAR / USFWS
LAKEVIEW, Ore. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is releasing a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a management plan to address a significant decline in the California bighorn sheep population on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. The Service is opening a 45-day public comment period on the draft EIS.
The bighorn sheep population on the refuge has declined by 67% in four years, dropping from 149 sheep in 2017 to 48 in 2020. This trend puts the population at risk of extirpation without management intervention.