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Mark Freeman Commentary Local hunters give sheep a lift By MARK FREEMAN Deep in the bowels of Oregon's Hells Canyon roams a bighorn sheep with the Rogue Valley Chapter of Oregon Hunters Association's name on it. The three rams and 11 ewes transplanted in February from Canada are officially named after the Medford-based OHA chapter that made it possible. The chapter raised $16,000 to pay for the trapping of the rare sheep in Alberta, Canada, and airlifting them to the Muir Creek drainage of Hells Canyon in far Eastern Oregon. While other sheep herds are named after individual benefactors, the Rogue Valley OHA herd is the first to be named for an organization, says Don Whittaker, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist overseeing the state's bighorn sheep program. "It's a way we can recognize publicly the contributions that the OHA has had toward bighorn sheep management," Whittaker says. "Obviously, the department isn't rolling in dough and these kinds of programs are expensive," Whittaker says. "The OHA has always been right there at the table for bighorn sheep." While the local OHA chapter's 600 members are a long distance from Hells Canyon and are a longshot to ever draw a bighorn sheep tag, local club members found the bighorn sheep a perfect avenue for their interests. "This is what the OHA has set about to do -- try and help critters, especially in places where they're hurting," says Duane Dungannon, an OHA spokesman in Medford. "We can't go out and do one project and turn around declining deer populations," Dungannon says. "This kind of project is very doable -- it just takes dollars." The ODFW will present the local OHA chapter a plaque and officially name the herd during a ceremony at tonight's OHA meeting in Medford. The 14 OHA sheep are the latest infusion of Rocky Mountain bighorns to the Hells Canyon area that is trying to rebound from losses triggered by a spread of pneumonia from domestic sheep in 1995. The outbreak killed a quarter of the canyon's sheep, leaving about 500 along the canyon's Oregon side. Biologists have targeted the Muir Creek area for the rebuilding work because it is a remote portion of the canyon that is disease-free, Whittaker says. Last year, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission redrew bighorn sheep hunting units to exempt the Muir Creek drainage from any sheep hunting, Whittaker says. A special public-private venture last year transplanted six sheep in that area, Whittaker says. The OHA herd was trapped in British Columbia from a large herd there. In exchange for the sheep, the OHA is paying for some horses to be sent to Alberta for use by that country's backwoods biologists, Whittaker says. The funds paying for the transplant came from local OHA coffers as well as a $5,000 donation from Jo Josephson, a club member and wildlife benefactor, chapter President Bill Kirk says. The local chapter is looking to parlay its success at this weekend's OHA statewide convention, Kirk says. The group plans to challenge other OHA chapters throughout Oregon to pledge money for a similar OHA-funded sheep transplant next year, Kirk says. If all goes well, Whittaker says, the OHA herd will carve out a stronghold in the Muir Creek area to where some limited hunting might be allowed in seven to 12 years. "We have a lot of high hopes for this herd," Whittaker says. Hunting organizations have been criticized for decades that they are only interested in boosting animal herds to expand hunting opportunities. "It took hunters who appreciate these animals to care enough to bring them back," Dungannon says. "So far, (hunters) are the only ones shelling out money to bring sheep back." (Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470.) Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA