Affected Bighorn Sheep Herds S-22 San Luis Peak Sub-Herd
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On June 25th and 26th 2012, Seth Ratering USFS Range Tech, Doug Clark USFS Wildlife Tech, and Kevin Suellentrop USFS Wildlife Tech, inspected Table Mountain, Snow Mesa and the Ouray Sheep allotments. The intent of the visit was to locate bighorn sheep, collect bighorn scat, to get familiar with the allotments, and also to check on the ground conditions. No bighorn sheep were spotted during this visit although they are known to be present. We did collect one sample of possible bighorn sheep scat. Determining whether or not the scat was in fact bighorn sheep was difficult due to high population of elk and deer, who also had scattered scat in the whole area. The drought conditions are extremely evident around the whole area, especially above treeline where contact with moisture was limited. Bog sedge (Kobresia myosuroides) was extremely dry and showed very little recent production. It appears it produced early and was able to go to seed, but is now almost completely browned (photo 1). Various forbs are also very unproductive. The only available water on these high mesas is in the lakes and kettles and the few boggy areas (photo 2). During our visit, the mornings did not even produce dew on the vegetation. The east side of the Miners pasture will not be used this year. Instead, the Ouray allotment will be used in the beginning of the grazing season. This allotment has not been used for a number of seasons and shows signs of needing some disturbance. The amount of residual plant matter is beginning to hamper plant vigor in areas of high production. There is available water in many little springs and seeps as-well-as in live streams. Use in this area may be preferred by wildlife specialist to reduce the chance of contacting domestic sheep with native bighorn sheep. More follow ups will be planned to map herder camps, bed grounds, inspect use, and to further document bighorn sheep presents. (NOTE: Date on photos is one day off) Photo 1. Bog Sedge (K. myosuroides) with view of a lake Photo 2. Wetted area near a lake on snow mesa Photo 3. Conditions between Table Mt. and Snow Mesa Photo 4. Table Mountain tundra conditions During the week of August 25, 2014 through August 27, 2014, Doug Clark (Wildlife tech), Kevin Sullentrop (Wildlife tech) and Justin Trujillo (Range tech) inspected the Miners/Snow Mesa/Table Sheep and Goat allotment. August 25, 2014 I inspected the herder camp and sheep bed-grounds located in the Willow Creek drainage, located on a grassy knoll in between the so-called “Little Wheeler Geologic Area” and the archeological hearth site. The herder campsite exhibited minimal impact from foot and horse travel but I did discover some garbage that had been left behind after camp was moved. This issue could be easily remedied by informing Jerry Brown and the herders to pick up their trash after each move. The sheep bed-grounds in the Willow Creek drainage exhibited light to medium impact and should recover given enough time before its next use. However, an archeological hearth site exists approximately 100 yards northeast of where the camp and bed-grounds were located. The close proximity of the herder camp and bed-grounds to the archeological site compromises the integrity of the artifacts located at the site. In order to preserve these important cultural resources I recommend the future sheep camp be moved to a location further down the Willow Creek drainage. Overall the utilizations along the Willow Creek drainage are within the permitted 25%- 35% range and all targeted grasses were already recovering due to adequate moisture in the area. There were no adverse impacts to Willow Creek or the surrounding riparian area. There is no shortage of water to prevent the sheep from grazing any particular area of the drainage. Sheep bed-grounds next to Willow Creek The photo on the left was taken looking southeast toward Table Mountain. The photo on the right was taken looking northeast toward the grassy knoll where the herder canvas-tent was located, with the head of Miners Creek in the foreground. Herder camp next to Willow Creek The photo on the left is the location of the herder’s camp. The photo on the right is some of the trash left behind after camp was moved. Archeological site sheep tracks The photos above illustrate the impact the sheep can have upon the embankment where hearths for processing stone tools exist and are being excavated and documented. The importance of these cultural resources should be communicated to Jerry Brown and any future herders in order to sustain the Forest Service multiple-use model. Although the sheep did not cause any direct damage to any artifacts, their travel over the embankment may cause erosion which will lead to the degradation of this site. Any future monitoring of this allotment should be hyperaware of this site and great care should be taken by both the permittee and the Forest Service to prevent any damage to the site. On August 26, 2014 I inspected the occupied herder camp located on Snow Mesa approximately 1 mile southwest of Baldy-Cinco peak. The sheep bedding-grounds exhibited light to medium-light impact. There were also 2 horses and 4 mules utilizing the forage and water in the area. Future monitoring should be aware of the allotted number of horses/mules agreed upon in the grazing permit. The upland utilization heights were all within the acceptable range with higher use levels in the immediate vicinity of the camp. The herders appeared to be doing a remarkable job of keeping the sheep herded and of moving the flock to new grazing grounds each day. However I did observe the sheep grazing north of the Colorado/Continental Divide trail which is outside of the allotment boundary. Future monitoring should remain attentive of the allotment boundaries in order to prevent any interaction between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep. I also observed a single thru-hiker and a separate group of 3 horsemen on the Colorado/Continental Divide trail and as they passed by the flock I was especially watchful of the interaction between the trail-users and the Great Pyrenees dog guarding the sheep. The hikers/riders did not appear to be alarmed by the presence of the guard dog and the dog did not make any aggressive gestures toward the folks on the trail. It was clear the dog understood the hikers did not pose a threat to the sheep and remained with the flock. This is an important observation given the recent dog/hiker encounters on other allotments. Sheep trail up to Snow Mesa Herder camp and bedding grounds on Snow Mesa Sheep on the flanks of Baldy-Cinco Browns meeting notes10/17/17 Attendees CPW: (Brent Woodward, Jeremy Gallegos, Kyle Michaels) USFS: (Dale Gomez, Martha Williamson, Tanner Dutton, Margaret Armistead, Michael Vargas, Douglas Clark, Randy Ghormley) Permittees: (Wayne Brown, Jerry Brown) • Update was given on status of the Snow Mesa and Wishbone Project. Next step is to release a Draft Decision Notice. • Actual use for 2017 was discussed and FS and permittee notes were compared for pasture use dates. • South River Pasture: Jerry turned on 6/15 and Wayne turned on 6/16. Pasture was exited on 7/6 o Talked about decreasing days in this pasture. Some areas received heavier than desired utilization, but recovered well once monsoons started. • Sixmile Pasture: 7/6-7/14 o Fence next to Hwy 149 and private would increase ability to distribute sheep closer to highway and prevent them from entering private property. o Floats clogged up and an overflow system is needed. o Overall pasture worked well • North Shallow Pasture: 7/15-7/20 and 8/25-9/1 o Pasture works well on either side of Crystal Basin o FS observed herder temporarily leaving sheep unattended o Has more grazing capacity than we used this year • Crystal Basin Pasture: 7/22-8/25 o Utilized three camps o Talked about decreasing days in this pasture. Utilization was OK, but time for plant recovery is limited at this altitude. This would allow more growing season for vegetation to recover. o Sheep have been using forage under timber, but the down trees are becoming obstacles to the sheep and herder. o This pasture could serve as a training opportunity for Mineral County EMS to fly their search and rescue drone to check for strays. o This pasture has the most challenging trailing in and out. No strays were found by FS or Permittee sweeps following exit. • East Bench Pasture: 9/2-9/13 o Pasture worked well. o East side was used less than West and sheep could be distributed better. o A small piece of salt was left behind in this pasture. o Additional tanks would be beneficial for larger drinking area. o Need to inspect pasture after trailing off for the season to check for strays. • Coller Pasture: 9/14-9/21 o Herder didn’t camp or distribute sheep as requested. Browns meeting notes10/17/17 o Need a map to describe area and camp locations. o CPW would like to see area north of Rio Grande utilized if possible. o Need to avoid irrigated benches in the future. o CPW observed herder leaving sheep temporarily unattended on two different occasions. • Discussed the importance of communicating specifics to herder and why some things did not go as planned. • Discussed occurrences of herder temporarily leaving sheep unattended. • Discussed 2017 stray sheep following exit of the East Bench Pasture. o FS and permittees agreed that sheep were not likely lost during trailing out of East Bench, but must have been a group that were left behind in the pasture.