Meeting to be held on bighorn reintroduction – A short note in the Arizona Daily Star about a meeting where “State and federal officials will host a public meeting Thursday to provide information on a plan to reintroduce bighorn sheep to the Catalina Mountains.” I assume from the date of the article that by Thursday they mean 9/12/2013…

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…

Tim Steller: Bighorns’ proposed return to Catalinas raises hunting debate – An article questioning the role of hunting in the reintroduction plans. There is some interesting information in this article but I thought it was not direct/clear enough in stating that hunting Bighorn Sheep in the Santa Catalina Mountains – assuming the population becomes large/healthy enough – is a Project Objective in the AZGF Reintroduction of Desert Bighorn Sheep into the Santa Catalina Mountains – 2012 – document.

Restoring bighorn sheep won’t require wholesale slaughter of lions – This article attempts to address some of the concerns that have (I assume from the tone/title/content of this article) been expressed by people about translocating Bighorn Sheep into the Santa Catalina Mountains. As with previous articles the return of fire to the Santa Catalina Mountains (and anticipated Firescape Project), existing restrictions on travel and dogs in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness to help reduce human disturbance (which they claim will be enforced) and the killing of Mountain Lions to keep initial deaths due to predation low are all cited as positive changes/conditions that will help this project succeed. However the article does not have any interesting information about Urban Encroachment (sited as a ‘likely factor’ in their decline – which has only increased over time, about disease or about current water/drought conditions (this may not be a factor in the Santa Catalinas (?) but I believe is a factor in other areas). First mention I have seen of the Catalina Bighorn Advisory Committee Website and Facebook Page.

Tim Steller: More questions on reintroducing bighorns – In a somewhat refreshing article Tim Stellar brings up some interesting points about the re-introduction of Bighorn Sheep – the Mountain Lion part of the plan, whether the Bighorns are critical to the environment and how the plan is going to be funded (“by license sales, grants and other sources”).