State, tribal biologists help strengthen the herd

OMAK -- A small herd of about 20 California bighorn sheep living on the rocky ridges above Omak Lake on the Colville Indian Reservation is about to get some new blood thanks to some transplants from the Yakima area.

Tribal and state biologists captured a dozen sheep on Wednesday at the Oak Creek Wildlife Area west of Naches. Eight of the sheep joined the Quilomene herd south of Wenatchee. Four others were released Thursday with the Vulcan Mountain herd near Curlew, where Colville tribal members have hunting rights, including a few special permits for bighorn.

Over the last few years, hundreds of bighorn sheep have been relocated in Washington to boost smaller herds, or establish new ones in other parts of the state.

"Some of these herds are more productive than others," said Ted Clausing, wildlife program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife in Yakima. He said two herds on Cleman Mountain, where sheep were captured Wednesday, have about 500 sheep now. "We're trying to use those to supplement other herds around the state," he said.

California bighorns -- which can weigh up to 300 pounds -- are native to Washington, but were nearly exterminated decades ago. Most of the restoration efforts have occurred over the last 40 or 50 years, Clausing said.

The relocation efforts are intended to boost already established herds, establish new ones, and help strengthen smaller herds by increasing genetic diversity.

And because the herds are so isolated from each other, disease in one herd may not impact another.

On the Colville reservation -- about 75 miles northeast of Wenatchee -- biologists have relocated 113 bighorn sheep over the last three years to Hell's Gate game reserve, a 70,000-acre area set aside for big game.

That herd is now strong enough to issue a few hunting permits this year -- the first ever on the Colville reservation for bighorn, said Tribal Fish and Wildlife Director Joe Peone.

The newly established Hell's Gate population is now estimated between 125 to 150.

He said his department hopes to offer from one the three permits there this year, along with a few permits to an area near the Canadian border, where Colville Tribal members have hunting and fishing rights.

Peone said bighorn sheep were once regular inhabitants on parts of the reservation, and in other areas where tribal members lived.

"I've seen some historic photos, and in regalia you see evidence," he said. "Bighorn sheep were definitely used and valued by our tribes."

But the population above Omak Lake, about 11 miles southeast of Omak, is relatively new.

Some think they were planted there, although biologists disagree.

"There's been bighorn sheep over in that Omak Lake country for at least 40 years," said Steve Judd, a retired Colville Tribal wildlife biologist. "How they got here, nobody knows for sure," he said.

Still, the Omak Lake herd never thrived. And the Colville tribe was reluctant to relocate healthy sheep there because a local rancher had domestic sheep grazing nearby.

Now, those domestic sheep are gone, and the bighorns now there have been tested for disease and deemed healthy, Peone said.

"As that herd gets established, our goal is in the future to offer limited permits in there as well," he said. It may take a few years, but if the response by sheep moved to Hell's Gate is any indication, it can happen relatively quickly, he said.