Bozeman, MT. – For its fiscal year 2023-24, the Wild Sheep Foundation’s (WSF) will direct a record $7.815 Million for wild sheep conservation, management, and advocacy.

On August 31, WSF’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a record $1.6 Million in Grant-In-Aid funding requested through its chapter and affiliate network for wild sheep conservation and management projects.

“Our Grant-in-Aid allocations keep growing every year,” said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. ” This $1.6M represents 68% of WSF’s budgeted $2.302 Million in total Grant-In-Aid for the fiscal year and 45% of our planned $3.495 Million in Mission Programs Funding in addition to state, provincial, and tribal conservation permits sold at the Foundation’s annual Sheep Show® convention. Read more

MISSOULA, Mont. — Help is on the way for elk, ruffed grouse, woodcock, turkey, whitetail deer and many other wildlife species across the Great Lakes and Appalachian States.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) entered into a three-year conservation agreement to maintain and enhance habitat within priority areas across Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin, while improving hunting opportunities. Read more

After a recent suspected avian botulism outbreak killed thousands of birds in northern Utah, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is providing some safety reminders for waterfowl hunters this fall.

DWR biologists first discovered dead and sick birds in mid-September in the Willard Spur and Harold Crane waterfowl management areas. Many birds have been collected and submitted for disease testing. The birds tested negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza. (Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have decreased in Utah this year.) While final test results are still pending, biologists suspect the birds died of avian botulism.

Avian botulism is a paralytic, often fatal, disease of birds that results from the ingestion of a toxin produced by a bacteria, Clostridium botulinum. The toxin is produced under certain environmental conditions in the summer and fall when there are low oxygen levels and warm water temperatures. Botulism mainly occurs in stagnant pools where there is no water flowing, and sick and dead birds are most often found along the shoreline.

Waterfowl, gulls and shorebirds are the bird species most often affected by avian botulism. Signs of avian botulism include the inability for a bird to hold its head up and a bird flapping its wings, but not having the strength to take off.

Avian botulism occurs almost yearly in Utah — typically between July and September — particularly during periods when the weather is really hot and after periods of rainfall. Those conditions often create stagnant pools of water that hold and grow the anaerobic bacteria that causes avian botulism. Read more