Two environmental groups are filing suit in federal court claiming grazing by domestic sheep in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is placing bighorn sheep at high risk of disease outbreaks.
The lawsuit, brought by WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project, asserts grazing authorized in the national forest transmits the pathogen which causes pneumonia in bighorn sheep from domestic sheep as they are mutually attracted to each other.
“The Forest Service has known about the high risk to bighorns in this area for over a decade and has refused to take action. We have pleaded with them for years to do something, yet they have just sat by as bighorns died. If the agency tasked with protecting this iconic species won’t do so, we’re here to make sure they do,” said Greg Dyson of WildEarth Guardians.
