Opinions Opposing the Bighorn Reintroduction

Transplanting bighorn sheep to Pusch Ridge is cruel and futile – An article criticizing the reintroduction effort saying that it “smacks of environmental politics and wishful thinking more than sound conservation science”. Several points that this article makes –

• Since the 1970s 100,000 additional people in the area the author looked at and an estimate of 50,000+ additional cars on Oracle Road
• “Forty years ago, you could hike the two main Pusch Ridge Wilderness trails – Pima Canyon and Romero Pools – and rarely encounter another hiker. Today, both trails are hiker highways, especially on weekends.”
• “Their studies admit human encroachment played a part in the decline but it’s played down as a primary reason (they also readily admit they’re not really sure why the bighorn population suddenly died off).”

Hopefully this article helps to create some useful debate…