Why are the Big Horns on Premier Ridge almost gone?
Ram on Premier Ridge
On Sun, Apr 5, 2020 at 6:00 AM Frank O’Grady wrote:
Carmen,
One of my friends was hiking around Premier Ridge a few days ago and saw a ram.
Are there still some sheep in that band or did it stray in from Bull River?
I hope you are staying healthy. I live close to the ski hill and the Nature Park so I can get my exercise.
Best Regards,
Frank O'Grady
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Carmen Purdy
Date: Sun, Apr 5, 2020 at 12:03 PM
Subject: Re: Ram on Premier Ridge
To: Frank O’Grady
There are a few bighorn still in the area, they winter near the North end of Rock lake & above Quartz lake, where they have some good escape terrain as well as available forage close to them.
Premier ridge needs a hot fire, all ungulates need some targeted predator management. One of the most inane big game management decisions was, stopping road access to motorized traffic on Premier ridge form Dec.1 to April 30th each year for the past thirty five years or so. This along with the same road access management decision for the east side of Columbia Lake, Canal Flats to Fairmont, & access closures on the west side of columbia lake Findlay creek to Dutch creek, to name a few. On the Rockies side our Bighorn, elk and Mule deer have taken the hit from predators that have a field day in these no-go zones. I have tried many times to have regional biologists change these access policies, to no avail. Wolves, cougars, bobcat, & coyotes have their way with ungulates behind these road closures. Big Horn are especially vulnerable and I am sad to say unless we change our access management systems to allow for predator hunting and trapping, our Big Horn, like the Relic Woodland Caribou will be the next to go here in the Kootenay district.
Predator pits with no predator hunters in the field due to inane access restrictions is bizarre. They even charge trappers for road permits to trap. Where & if they are allowed to trap by private land-owners like The Nature trust, NCC, on crown protected areas, like the Park at the end of Columbia lake.
There are no Sheep on sheep mountain, & the 35,000 acre NCC Mt. Broadwood property has road access restrictions year round. These conservation lands were initially purchased to protect BIG GAME especially Bighorn sheep. At one time we had some managers that were hunters, no longer.
It is ironic and undeniable that those now charged with the responsibility for increasing and multiplying our big game resources will be the ones responsible for our Big Games demise, Big Horn being the next to go..
Mercy
Carmen
On Apr 6, 2020, at 8:08 AM, Ivar C.Larson wrote:
The response letter is the truth Carm! And the road restrictions put in place on good intentions were not thought through for any vision for the future. The bureaucracy is imbedded and has been going down a road of restrictions and protectionism! The very things they are trying to protect are being abandoned in the waste lands like the Purcell Wilderness Protected Area that was going to save the caribou ! That really worked! Their response is to lock up more land and put more restrictions in place!
The high fencing and proper range management are just a couple more of impacts on ungulates.
Stay Safe my Friend !
Ivar
Sent from my iPad