Duchesne County will soon be the home of the first desert bighorn sheep nursery in the state of Utah. Antelope Island has had a nursery herd for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep but the Duchesne County location will be the first for desert bighorns. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources partnered with Young Living Essential Oils in the effort to grow the species’ population utilizing the Young Living owned SkyRider Wilderness Ranch located in Hanna. The fenced property is 1,800 acres and provides a water source and good habitat. “We are really excited about this area and the opportunity it will provide to grow our desert bighorn populations in Utah,” shares DWR Once-In-A-Lifetime Species Coordinator Riley Peck. “There have been some disease issues with our bighorn sheep populations in the past, and this fenced area will provide a place for our herds to safely grow…We will have our own internal bighorn sheep population and can be self-sufficient in maintaining healthy herds. The benefit of this nursery area cannot be overstated.”
