Commission Agenda Item No. 9
Presenters: Justin Dreibelbis
Froylán Hernández

Briefing
Bighorn Sheep Restoration and Management
March 22, 2018

I.      Executive Summary:  This item provides the Desert Bighorn Sheep Program restoration update, which includes translocation history as well as costs associated with the restoration program.  The update will also highlight the importance of sustainable bighorn hunting on public lands and the conservation funding created through this activity.  The update will cover:

• Brief history on extirpation and early restoration effort;
• Post 2010 translocation events and newly restored mountain ranges;
• Yearly restoration and management activities (e.g. surveys, captures/translocations, predator management, exotic management, habitat improvements, disease monitoring/surveillance);
• Costs directly associated with restoration and management activities; and
• Public lands permit issuance. 

II.        Discussion:  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, in partnership with numerous state agencies, conservation organizations, landowners and volunteers, has worked diligently to restore desert bighorn sheep to previously occupied West Texas mountain ranges.  Though the program has been successful and there are now several mountain ranges with viable populations, there is still plenty of habitat that continues to be unoccupied.  The goal of the program is to restore bighorn sheep into suitable habitat within the historic range of the species.