The Latest

GPS and video collars are giving researchers a new look at how desert bighorn sheep navigate the heat, water limitations, and rugged terrain of Sierra El Álamo—and providing lessons that could strengthen restoration efforts across the Southwest.

A new restoration facility in western Nebraska could give wildlife managers a powerful tool to combat disease, rebuild struggling bighorn herds, and return sheep to suitable habitat. With support from the Wild Sheep Foundation, the project marks a new chapter in Nebraska’s decades-long effort to restore bighorn sheep. 

What does the future of wild sheep conservation look like—and how do you build a plan to get there? Sheep Fever co-host Gray N. Thornton sits down with WSF conservation staff and biologists Corey Mason, Kevin Hurley, Kurt Alt, and Bill Jex to unpack Conservation Vision 2030.

Brett Wiedmann and Kevin Hurley discuss the restoration of North Dakota bighorn sheep, tracing the effort from early translocation failures to the successful introduction of Missouri River Breaks sheep from Montana, and the lasting impact on bighorn conservation and hunting opportunities in the state.

Three years ago, we produced our first Conservation Impact Summary. The purpose was to “tell our story” beyond just the dollars directed to wild sheep conservation and other mission programs, but more importantly, to demonstrate and share the impact those dollars have. The work WSF accomplished this past year is the legacy of the WSF family.

For its fiscal year 2025-26, the Wild Sheep Foundation will direct a record $2.2 million in Grant-In-Aid funding for wild sheep conservation and management projects, primarily requested through our Chapter and Affiliate network.

For its fiscal year 2025-26, the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) will direct $2 million in Grant-In-Aid (GIA) funding for wild sheep conservation and management projects, primarily requested through its Chapter and Affiliate network. Twenty-five projects, spanning from British Columbia to New Mexico, Yukon to Nevada, and internationally in Central Asia, were awarded grants.

For its fiscal year 2024-25, the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) will direct $1.6 Million in Grant-In-Aid funding for wild sheep conservation and management projects, largely requested through its Chapter and Affiliate network. "Our Grant-in-Aid conservation funding keeps growing every year and is a vital component of our overall Mission Program Funding," said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. "This $1.6 Million represents only a portion of our total annual allocations to wild sheep conservation.”

Through exceptional support from our membership, sponsors, donors, and industry partners, WSF has been able to raise and direct during the past ten years more than $56 million to Mission Program Funding which represents programs enhancing and restoring wild sheep worldwide. Here are the updates for FY 2022-2023.