Dear HCN,
I was heartened about the
future of our public lands as I read the article on “Global market
squeezes sheep ranchers” (HCN, 11/19/01: Global market squeezes
sheep ranchers). As a long-term resident of Boise who frequently
hikes and mountain bikes on public lands, I have experienced
first-hand the effects of Brad Little’s and other public-lands
livestock producers’ sheep. Sheep manure and devastated
wildflowers, shrubs and grasses are the sheep’s by-products. A good
example is two months ago, when I was backpacking near Hell’s
Canyon Recreation Area (public land for many miles around) and had
the unfortunate experience of several hundred head of sheep
spending the better part of the day near my campsite. The sheep’s
dust, smell and flies were unpleasant, but more tragic in this
drought-stricken year, was the sheep’s stripping of the grasses and
shrubs. I was saddened as I thought of the deer and elk, left with
a few thin strips of vegetation to eat during a harsh Idaho
winter.
So many of us, human and native wildlife
and fauna, find reason to celebrate the free market’s working and
consequent demise of an industry that has been on the decline for
decades. As I drove on Highway 93 north of Salmon, Idaho, this
weekend, I was thrilled to see a herd of eight native bighorn sheep
near the road. As most Westerners know, over the last century, the
bighorns have been utterly devastated from diseases and grazing
competition from domestic sheep. Perhaps this vigorous-looking band
of bighorns is an omen of a wilder and restored West, I thought, as
the hooved domestic locusts depart our
state.
Having been to New Zealand, I can vouch
that it’s ideal for sheep production, being wet, temperate and
green year-round, unlike southern Idaho. To the extent our nation
continues to have any demand for mutton, lamb or wool, New Zealand
can certainly supply the bulk of it. Conscientious sheep producers
like Louise Wagenknecht, who do not graze on public lands, can
continue to supply a miniscule niche demand. Public-lands livestock
producers would be well advised to be researching alternative ways
to make a living, as market forces and conscientious citizens
combine to end subsidized, destructive livestock grazing on our
public lands.
Debra K.
Ellers
Boise,
Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Good riddance to the sheep.
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