Bozeman, MT – The Wild Sheep Foundation Board of Directors has approved funding for its FY2022-23 slate of Grant-in-Aid projects. WSF will be contributing $1,222,637.00 toward 14 projects that in total will exceed $5 million to benefit wild sheep populations across North America. This Conservation Grant funding is one component of the expected $6 Million in mission program funding WSF will direct this fiscal year.
“As the trusted facilitator for raising and directing funds for wild sheep conservation, we receive a number of grant requests,” explained Gray N. Thornton, President, and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. “This means a lot of agencies, universities, individuals, and other conservation partners are focusing on wild sheep, which is a good thing. We’re excited about this level of commitment and the quality of projects these experts have identified and brought forth.”
The project submission period was July 2022. WSF’s Conservation Staff conducted the initial review of funding requests received, followed by an independent review by WSF’s Professional Resource Advisory Board. Final funding recommendations were made to the WSF Board of Directors, giving special consideration to funding requests submitted by or through its network of 36 Chapters and Affiliates.
Funding was awarded to a diversity of projects spanning from British Columbia to Mexico, focusing on:
Population Restoration – Trap & Transplants, GPS Radio Collaring
Habitat Enhancement – Water Development, Prescribed Burns
Disease Management – Test & Remove, Pathogen Surveillance
“This level of funding would not be possible without the unwavering generosity of our membership, industry partners, Chapters and Affiliates, and other wild sheep enthusiasts,” Thornton concluded.
Over the past ten years WSF has invested over $50 million in wild sheep conservation funding.
The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), based in Bozeman, Mont., was founded in 1977 by wild sheep conservationists and enthusiasts. With a membership of more than 10,500 worldwide, WSF is the premier advocate for wild sheep and other mountain wildlife and their habitats. WSF has raised and expended more than $140 million on wild sheep habitat and population enhancements, education, and conservation advocacy programs in North America, Europe, and Asia to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep On the Mountain”®. These and other efforts have increased bighorn sheep populations in North America from historic lows in the 1950-60s of 25,000 to more than 85,000 today. www.wildsheepfoundation.org.
