Conservation Impact - Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn Sheep Restoration in Nebraska Continues

A healthier, expanding herd yields rare Nebraska bighorn hunting opportunities

This past February, the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission (NGPC) successfully helicopter captured, tested, collared, and released 36 bighorn sheep in the Wildcat Hills as part of an ongoing effort to enhance the state's bighorn sheep population.

Conservation Legacy

Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund Aids WSF Projects

"Would you like to round up to support conservation?" The question caught 16-year-old Nathan off guard as he clutched his brand-new fly rod at the checkout counter. It was his first time in a Bass Pro Shops, and he was already in awe of the towering big game displays and the swimming pool sized aquarium full of fish he had only seen on Instagram. 

Conservation Impact Overview

FY 2023-2024 Summary

As noted in our inaugural FY 2022-23 Conservation Impact Summary last year, WSF revised our Grant-In-Aid (GIA) process in the spring of 2022 to focus on larger, bolder, more impactful, and multi-year legacy projects with nearly all of them coming to WSF through our chapter and affiliate network. This action transformed our GIA program, and our Board of Directors recently renewed this focus for our current fiscal year. We are very pleased to report a second year of record results and record funding toward our conservation, education, and advocacy mission in this expanded FY 2023-24 Conservation Impact Summary.

WSF Grant-In-Aid Funding Impacts Diverse Conservation Projects

Worldwide Impact

The Wild Sheep Foundation supports a diversity of projects that have the potential to make a positive impact on wild sheep and goats around the world. We invest in big, landscape-level projects like habitat initiatives and translocations but also fund other grant requests that help us better understand conservation needs and that address issues facing wild sheep.

WD4C

Can Man’s Best Friend Help Save Wild Sheep?

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, TRAINED DOGS HAVE PROTECTED DOMESTIC FLOCKS FROM RAVAGING PREDATORS. NOW, CONSERVATIONISTS ARE USING A SPECIAL GROUP OF TRAINED CANINES TO DETECT DISEASE IN WILD SHEEP, WITH THE GOAL OF HELPING SAFEGUARD THEIR FUTURE. Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C) in conjunction with Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Utah and Montana State Universities are putting these dogs' smelling capabilities to the test.

3-WAY DIAGNOSTICS

Nebraska’s Bighorns Benefit From Collaring, New Testing Method

The rugged buttes, mesas, and canyons in Nebraska’s Panhandle dramatically contrast with the plains and sandhills of most of the state. Along with mule deer, prairie rattlesnakes, and coyotes here, live Rocky Mountain bighorns

Hands-on Sheep Making the Difference

How capturing more than 760 wild sheep is securing a brighter future for this iconic species.

In Fiscal Year 2023-24, Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), through its Grant-In-Aid program, supported the capture, handling, sampling, and, for many, GPS collaring of more than 760 wild sheep across nine separate projects in North America. Why would WSF invest so much into this aspect of wild sheep conservation?

TRI-STATE TRIUMPH

WSF Supports Massive Bighorn Conservation Project In Washington, Oregon and Idaho

THE TRI-STATE REGION OF WASHINGTON, OREGON, AND IDAHO HAS A RICH HISTORY OF PRODUCING MASSIVE BIGHORN RAMS. BUT ONE DOESN’T HAVE TO DIG FAR BACK IN THE RECORDS TO SEE INCREDIBLE SPECIMENS.

FY22-23 Additional Conservation Impact Summaries

Read quick summaries about additional Conservation Projects that the Wild Sheep Foundation funded and managed with the help of our members as well as all of our from Take One, Put One Back donors, the WSF Life Member Gregg Eriksmoen bequest, plus our conservation partners. With additional support provided by the numerous Wild Sheep Foundation Chapters & Affiliates.

Working Dogs Forge Ahead For Wild Sheep Conservation

"To a dog, there is no such thing as 'fresh air.'