ATTENTION ALASKAN SHEEP HUNTERS!!!

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game Recently announced that 4 Dall sheep in the Talkeetna Mountains and 2 mountain goats on the Kenai Peninsula tested positive for M. ovi. M. ovi is a serious disease that has decimated bighorn sheep populations in the lower 48. While we don’t at this time understand the scope and severity of the problem, it is clear that actions need to be taken to limit future transmission of M. ovi to our wild sheep, goats, and muskox.

Currently the Alaska Legislature is hearing testimony on this use. The House Resource Committee has proposed a continuing resolution HCR 23 to express support in confronting this issue and to instruct the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to do everything in its power to address M. ovi.

At this point it is critical that Alaskan sportsmen and women express support to the leaders of the House Resource Committee for HCR 23. We NEED you to send an email of support to the co-chair Representative Andy Josephson before their next meeting Wednesday March 21 at 1PM. Please send all emails to:

Andy.josephson@akleg.gov and house.resources@akleg.gov

Items to include:

1. Your name.
2. Where you live.
3. Your experience hunting sheep.
4. Why sheep matter to you.
5. Why sheep are valuable to Alaska.
6. Why sheep matter in general.

Here’s HRC 23 for review:

HCR 23: Supporting enhanced efforts to protect wildlife and domestic animals in the state from infectious diseases, foreign pathogens, and nonendemic parasites.
00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 23
01 Supporting enhanced efforts to protect wildlife and domestic animals in the state from
02 infectious diseases, foreign pathogens, and nonendemic parasites.
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
04 WHEREAS the state contains some of the most productive and unique ecosystems on
05 the planet; and
06 WHEREAS the wildlife resources of the state hold intrinsic value to the state,
07 including economic value reaching into the billions of dollars annually; and
08 WHEREAS the state's wildlife is enjoyed by myriad user groups for hunting,
09 trapping, viewing, and general outdoor recreation; and
10 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature has the responsibility under the Constitution
11 of the State of Alaska to manage its natural resources, including wildlife, for the benefit of all
12 the people of the state; and
13 WHEREAS the state subscribes to science-based wildlife management; and
14 WHEREAS the state's wildlife managers are tasked with providing for a sustained
15 yield harvest; and
16 WHEREAS the wildlife of the state is under continuous and increasing threat from
01 foreign pathogens, infectious diseases, and nonendemic parasites; and
02 WHEREAS pathogen and disease transmission to wildlife in other areas of North
03 America has resulted in catastrophic die-offs and extirpation of distinct wild populations; and
04 WHEREAS similar pathogen and disease transmission to domestic animals has
05 resulted in costly and problematic die-offs; and
06 WHEREAS screening, reporting, and mitigation are proven and widely used tools for
07 preventing the import and transmission of disease pathogens to wild populations as well as
08 domestic animals;
09 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports enhanced efforts to
10 protect the state's wildlife from infectious diseases, foreign pathogens, and nonendemic
11 parasites; and be it
12 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the
13 Department of Fish and Game, Department of Natural Resources, and Department of
14 Environmental Conservation, including the office of the state veterinarian, to take necessary
15 and prudent measures to detect and identify the presence of infectious diseases, foreign
16 pathogens, and nonendemic parasites that threaten wildlife and domestic animals in the state
17 and to engage in actions to prevent the spread of those diseases and pathogens to at-risk
18 wildlife and domestic animals.


Here’s a copy of my letter:

March 19, 2018

To:

The Honorable
Representative Andy Josephson,
Alaska House of Representatives
Room 102 Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99801
Rep.andy.josephson@akleg.gov

Representative Josephson,

My name is Dr. Brett xxxxx and I am an Anchorage resident. As an Alaskan I enjoy the wild untamed nature of our state. One of my favorite animals to observe, hunt, and photograph is our Dall sheep. Our state is blessed with more Dall sheep than all the big horn sheep in all the lower 48 states put together! They are a resource cherished for the recreational opportunities they provide as well as economic opportunities for Alaskans.

Hunting our Dall sheep and the time spent in our mountains in their pursuit is a near spiritual experience to me. No one is a casual sheep hunter. Either you haven’t done it, you do it once and that’s enough, or you’ve done it and it’s turned into an all encompassing passion that reaches fever pitch each fall! I am infatuated with sheep, the mountains, and sheep hunting. Sheep hunters spend thousands of dollars in gear, train many hours per week to keep our physical conditioning, and spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to support the conservation groups that perpetuate our sheep and their habitat.

Wild sheep are an enigmatic symbol of wilderness. Unfortunately in the lower 48 once robust wild sheep populations have succumb to habitat loss, early commercial hunting, and more recently catastrophic disease events. Domestic sheep and goats free to feed and roam in and near sheep habitat have spread foreign pathogens new to North America’s sheep. Particularly insidious is M. ovi. M. ovi is transmitted directly from domestic animals of the Caprinae subfamily to wild sheep and goats. Numerous studies have demonstrated M. ovi’s transmission from domestic to wild sheep. M. ovi does not usually directly kill its victims. Instead M. ovi paralyzes the cilia of the respiratory system making it difficult for wild sheep and goats to expel and control native pathogens. So eventually sheep and goats succumb to a concoction of infection from native bacteria due to M. ovi. In the lower 48, there have been all age die-offs as high as 80-90% of a total sheep herd. These are catastrophic events. Additionally survivors carry and spread M. ovi to new generations. Also lamb mortality and survival can be seriously impacted for many years, limiting the herd’s ability to repopulate.

M. ovi has various strains. Some of them are more virulent than others. We do not know the strain and virulence of the current M. ovi facing the sheep in the Talkeetna Range. What we do know is that it’s highly probable that M. ovi was transmitted to our wild sheep by domestic animals. If this event is not catastrophic and nothing is changed, it is only a matter of time before a more virulent and deadly strain is transmitted. In short, complacency and inaction are not options consistent with the health and survival of Alaska’s wild sheep.

I am writing you to express my support for HCR 23 and to implore the legislature to do everything in its power to protect Alaska’s wild sheep. It’s important at this time to understand that while Alaska has a wealth of sheep and sheep managers, it also has a dearth of those experience and knowledgeable with wild sheep pathology. At a time like this it is critical to avoid being a lone wolf or pioneer. It’s prudent to speak with experienced managers from the lower 48 who have spent their careers studying wild sheep and the pathogens that besiege them, including M. ovi. In speaking with these experts I have ascertained there are both immediate actions and long term actions that must occur to secure the health and future of Alaska’s wild sheep.

Immediately the legislature needs to pass legislation mandating the testing of all domestic animals of the Caprinae subfamily. Any animals infected with M. ovi must be destroyed. Similarly all future importation of animals form the subfamily Caprinae into the state of Alaska must be tested for M. ovi. M. ovi is not endemic to Alaska, so if it is eliminated from domestic stock, it can’t be transmitted to our wild animals. Also the legislature must act to ban animals from the subfamily Caprinae from being used as pack animals in wild sheep, goat, and muskox habitat. We must limit the ability of domestic animals to interact with our wild Caprinae. Lastly the Department of Fish and Game must immediately initiate a helicopter capture and testing project in the area of infection to confirm results and ascertain more data on the problem. There is a very finite window for doing this. As soon as April, pregnant ewes will become more susceptible to mortality due to stress from the capture. I implore the legislature to take any and all immediate action to ensure funding and support for the department to conduct this vital step in verifying and quantifying the problem we face in the next few weeks.

In the long term the Alaska Department of Fish and Game needs to study the population near the sight of infection. The total population, its make up, and lamb survival must be measured and monitored. Also a statewide disease-screening program needs to be implemented to secure nose swab samples from as many sport hunted sheep and goat specimens as possible. This will help determine the distribution of M. ovi throughout the state and monitor for future outbreaks or spread. I implore the legislature to ensure funding and support to The Alaska Department of Fish and Game for these measures.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this critical matter. Alaska’s wild sheep are near to my heart and I hope you will shoulder the task of being their champion.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brett xxxxxx
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