Hello friends! It is with much excitement that I write this message to you. The Montana Wild Sheep Foundation is in the middle of change, much like the fall colors. And just like the brilliance mother nature delivers each fall, the Board of Directors and I are expecting these changes to intensify the effectiveness of our organization.

This August an election was held for three vacancies on the Board of Directors. Grant Winn and I were reelected to another term and we are both thankful for the opportunity to serve. I am excited to welcome Dr. Erika Putnam to the Board of Directors. She brings with her valuable business expertise, in addition to her experiences participating on many other boards. Welcome to the family Erika!

In June, Brian Solan notified the Board of Directors of his intention to step down as the Executive Director by year’s end. Thankfully, Brian still plans to stay involved and advised the board to entertain a proposal to hire a paid Executive Director. It was a robust discussion that ultimately led to a unanimous decision to fund and hire the position. Since that time, the board has engaged in a robust recruitment process that yielded many great candidates. I had hoped to make an announcement in this newsletter about who the new Executive Director will be, however, we have not quite completed the process. As soon as a decision is made an announcement will be shared via email and in the newsletter.

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far into my message without mentioning hunting season! Fall colors also bring out hunters orange! If you drew a sheep tag this year, I wish you the best of success as you have the experience of a lifetime. When you’re finished with your adventure, we would love to hear about your adventure. Be sure to send pictures and stories to us so we can share them with our wild sheep family! Regardless of what tag you drew this fall, I hope you enjoy time afield and create great memories with family and friends.

D.J. Berg
Montana Wild Sheep Foundation President
dj@montanawsf.org
(406) 366-1849

he Montana Wild Sheep Foundation (MTWSF) mentations or into new herds being established. and the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) are pooling our resources with Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C) to address bighorn sheep management needs. Last year, WSF approved a Grant in Aid proposal from WD4C to fund a startup project to: 1) use dogs to detect M.ovi and 2) develop the feasibility of using canine-enforced spatial sepa- ration. Both MTWSF and MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks wrote strong letters of support to WSF in support of this project.

But let’s step back a moment, WD4C was already working with Montana State University College of Ag- riculture, testing the ability of dogs to detect M.ovi in domestic sheep. With our collaboration with MSU and MTFWP, we encouraged WD4C to apply for a grant. This first year of work has shown great promise in detecting M.ovi in wild sheep feces, using collections from the ongoing Little Belts and Highlands bighorn sheep projects. In the last few months, interest in this project from a Canadian province and a half dozen western states has grown. This has led to the WSF approval of a new grant.

This summer we completed another successful camp with eighteen (18) kids being educated in the different species of North American Wild Sheep along with the disease issues associated with them and other wildlife here. Presentations were given by our local FWPS Biologist and the Forest Service as well as wilderness presentations by Smoke Elser and Wayne Chamberlin. Additionally, Gene Wensel and Berry Wensel, original founders of the Montana Bow Hunters Association, came in to teach about hunting whitetails. Day classes included horse packing, trapping, archery, and “leave no trace camping.”

Unique to this year’s camp, we also had a “camp within a camp” dedicated to fly fishing only. Four of the eighteen kids participated.We acquire a commercial (free fishing license) from the state of Idaho every year for the entire camp kids and all the adults. Many thanks to all those that helped out! It is definitely a team effort.