Shirts' Comment on PNF Rule

October 17, 2008 - Is removing domestic sheep from the Payette National Forest (PNF) the answer to protecting bighorn sheep? The Forest Service (FS) says yes, but Ron Shirts of Shirts Brothers Sheep and Frank Shirts, Jr. - who are third generation domestic sheep operators that are permitted to graze on several domestic sheep allotments in the Payette National Forest - disagree.

As previously reported, the FS released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on Sept. 18, 2008. The FS proposes in its DEIS to eliminate domestic sheep grazing on all but four domestic sheep allotments within the PNF in an effort to protect the bighorns due to a claimed disease transmission problem between the bighorns and the domestic sheep.

Comments have been submitted to the FS by the Shirts' and can be read in their entirety at www.sheepusa.org/?page=site/text&nav_id=06a255e39cc23a7bd55e703587d2d01d.

Comments on this draft report should be submitted before Jan. 2, 2009. Ask the FS to redo its DEIS and to maintain the existing domestic sheep allotments on the PNF. In so asking, you will not be advocating for or against bighorns or for or against domestic sheep. Instead, you will be advocating for an objective analysis of bighorn and domestic sheep interaction and for ratification of the commitments made in 1997.

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