Some may not realize that bighorn sheep roam some mountain sides in the Basin. The Division of Wildlife Management is asking the public for feedback concerning the statewide bighorn sheep management plan that was approved in November of 2018. Currently there are 4,170 bighorn sheep in Utah but the 18 management plans, 11 for Rocky Mountain bighorn and 7 for desert bighorn, hope to raise that number to 8,875. Jace Taylor is the bighorn sheep and mountain goat biologist for the DWR and expresses his concern: “There has been some struggle with our bighorn sheep populations recently because of respiratory disease. Part of our objective is to expand bighorn sheep populations where possible and to maintain the overall population in a sustainable and healthy way across Utah to provide quality opportunities for wildlife viewing and hunting.” Locally the Book Cliffs have 230 and DWR would like to raise that number to 450. For the Uinta Mountains there are 160 and they would like to see that become 450. Attend the Northeastern Utah meeting on September 12th at the Vernal office to share feedback.
