Wild Sheep Foundation > What We Do

Conservation Programs Overview

The Wild Sheep Foundation’s purpose is “To Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain.” One of the ways we accomplish this is to raise funds and direct this money to state, provincial, territorial, and tribal/First Nation wildlife agencies to help finance their wild sheep conservation and management programs.

Unlike mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and other big game species, the sale of wild sheep licenses alone does not generate nearly enough revenue for these agencies to have comprehensive wild sheep management programs. Consequently, wild sheep were not an agency priority in many western states during the 1960s and ‘70s. Sadly, bighorn sheep in North America reached their all-time low in the 1950s, with only 25,000 remaining in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Today, the bighorn sheep population has grown to more than 90,000. Dall’s sheep and Stone’s sheep (commonly referred to as thinhorn sheep) populations are currently estimated at 100,000, but precise population estimates are difficult due to the vastness of the thinhorn sheep range, and the difficulty/cost of completing comprehensive surveys.

WSF directs its annual funding to areas of greatest need, guided by our strategic document, Conservation Vision 2025. WSF raises financing through a number of sources, and directs our Mission Program Funding through various conservation programs, including our Grant-In-Aid program.

Collectively, our Conservation Programs focus on these actions to maintain and enhance wild sheep populations:

Wild Sheep Distribution

Bighorn distribution was dramatically reduced between 1850 – 1960, but through collaborative efforts between conservation organizations such as the Wild Sheep Foundation and our network of Chapters and Affiliates, state, provincial, and tribal/First Nation fish and game departments, public and Crown land-management agencies, private landowners, and other supporters, North American bighorn distribution has dramatically increased over the past ~60 years. Commensurate with increased distribution, in that six-decade period, North American bighorn sheep population estimates have more than tripled from fewer than 25,000 to currently more than 90,000.

Using diverse published and unpublished sources, WSF Conservation Staff modified these distribution maps from Helmut K. Buechner classic monograph “The Bighorn Sheep in the United States, Its Past, Present, and Future” (circa 1850) to also include historic bighorn sheep distribution in Canada and Mexico. Buechner also included a map (circa 1960) showing a significantly reduced bighorn distribution; WSF staff again modified Buechner’s 1960 map to reflect the then-extant bighorn sheep distribution in Canada and Mexico. In 2012, the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) Wild Sheep Working Group, using more refined GIS mapping applications, carefully mapped current distribution of bighorn sheep in the same 14 western states that Buechner had mapped, plus added the state of Texas. WSF Conservation Staff again added the current bighorn distribution for Canada and Mexico to the WAFWA 2012 map, to portray the current North American-wide distribution of bighorn sheep.

Three maps of bighorn sheep distribution in North America

WSF Conservation Videos

Watch our the latest conservation video from the I.O.N. Partnership – Oregon/Nevada Interstate Bighorn Translocation.

Conservation Video Playlist

The Wild Sheep Foundation YouTube channel has a dedicated conservation playlist with dozens of conservation related videos.

Go to Conservation Playlist

Conservation

Photo courtesy Kathy Ritter.