Threats to Mountain Sheep Habitat

Threats to mountain sheep have increased and changed over the past 25 years. I reviewed relevant literature to better understand current threats to mountain sheep habitat. As evidenced through economic investment, society wants wildlife populations and wild places managed sustainably, conserving their inherent aesthetic and intrinsic values while also providing for recreation, harvest, and economic and scientific uses. Accomplishing this while also managing and mitigating direct human effects on mountain sheep habitat (i.e., quality, availability) and the indirect effects from climate change, resource and land use decisions, and socio-political activism will continue to challenge wildlife managers and, by extension, mountain sheep in North America. The issues affecting habitats of mountain sheep in western North America are complex. Land management agencies responsible for management of mountain sheep range must actively prioritize the stewardship of wildlife habitats in resource management and land use planning, directing those solutions using laws and policies, implemented on a scale large enough to be effective in sustaining healthy habitats and populations into the future. Recruiting biologists will need to recognize that the effects of change may not all be negative in nature. With this perspective, they will need to help shape effective strategies for mitigating negative outcomes, by building on the lessons learned from the past, while also incorporating new and relevant knowledge of the current day. Mountain sheep populations in North America face a myriad of evolving threats. Effective conservation and management strategies are imperative to ensure the long-term survival of these globally unique and iconic species. By understanding the complex interactions between mountain sheep ecology and the evolving threats they face, managers can work toward safeguarding these magnificent creatures by stewarding the ecosystems they inhabit, in consideration of their benefit to future generations.