File Code:
2600
Date:
June 6, 2008 



Dear Forest Service Partner:
The Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) is about to release "A Review of Disease Related Conflicts Between Domestic Sheep and Goats and Bighorn Sheep" by Timothy Schommer and Melanie Woolever.  The Review will be published as a General Technical Report (GTR).  The GTR is presently in production, and hard copies will be available in June.  However, an advance copy can be viewed at this website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr209.html.

Schommer and Woolever reviewed existing scientific literature concerning disease related conflicts between domestic sheep and goats and bighorn sheep.  Their Review did not create new information, but compiled existing information and distilled it into this publication.  The Review was submitted to the RMRS for an independent blind peer review.  Given this high profile issue, we believed an independent review was critical.  The reviewers are experts in the fields of bighorn disease, disease transmission, genetics, population demography, taxonomy, and ecology with over 80 years of collective experience.  The review process is now complete and we are ready to publish the document.

The GTR is a piece of the overall strategy addressing sheep management.  It will be used in conjunction with input from stakeholders, State agencies, BLM and others to establish management practices.  In addition, we will use this information to help us develop our policy to manage situations where there is a potential of wild and domestic sheep conflicts.

If you have any questions on the GTR, please contact Gene DeGayner (202) 205-1281.

Sincerely,



/s/ Charles J. Myers (for)
JOEL D. HOLTROP
Deputy Chief for National Forest System

    







United States
Department of
Agriculture
Forest
Service
Washington
Office
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC  20250


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