North Dakota bighorn sheep survey tallies record-setting population
The survey, which is completed by recounting lambs in March, tallied a record 322 bighorn sheep in western North Dakota, surpassing the previous record of 313 bighorns in 2008.
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Herald Staff Report | 11:31 am, Apr. 5, 2021 ×
Bighorn sheep. (Photo/ North Dakota Game and Fish Department)
North Dakota’s bighorn sheep population was up 11% from 2019 and 13% above the five-year average, the Game and Fish Department said Monday in reporting results from its 2020 bighorn sheep survey.
In a news release, the department said the survey, which is completed by recounting lambs in March, tallied a record 322 bighorn sheep in western North Dakota, surpassing the previous record of 313 bighorns in 2008.
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Outdoornews
April 5, 2021
(Photo by Bob Drieslein)
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2020 bighorn sheep survey, completed by recounting lambs in March, revealed a record 322 bighorn sheep in western North Dakota, up 11% from 2019 and 13% above the five-year average. The count surpassed the previous record of 313 bighorns in 2008.
Altogether, biologists counted 97 rams, 170 ewes and 55 lambs. Not included are approximately 40 bighorn sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and bighorns recently introduced to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Big game biologist Brett Wiedmann was pleased to see an increase in the survey for the third consecutive year.
“The increase in the 2020 count reflects lessening effects of bacterial pneumonia that was detected in 2014,” Wiedmann said.
jschramm@minotdailynews.com
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A Community Building will provide recreational and social activities for the White Shield community when completed this fall.
Three schools on the Fort Berthold Reservation have been getting upgrades. White Shield, Mandaree and Twin Buttes have projects either being completed or initiated in 2021.
White Shield students began taking classes in their new school about 2-¢ years ago, but there’s still work being done.
The latest to be constructed is a sports complex that will replace an old track and field with a modern track and football field, while adding a baseball field, splashpad and hockey rink. White Shield, which hasn’t had a football team since the 1990s, will be organizing a team next fall, said Superintendent Wayne Fox.
jschramm@minotdailynews.com
Jill Schramm/MDN
Children move sand last August as adults fill their shovels to toss the first ceremonial ground last October for the construction of the Magic City Discovery Center.
A pandemic and concerns about funding haven’t stopped construction in the Minot region.
“For us, construction has been strong,” said Dave Schwengler, Minot office manager for Houston Engineering. “The past year was a good year for construction. That was one of the industries that kept working through the pandemic.”
He expects more of the same for 2021.
“There’s a lot of big projects out there right now, even some development work starting to pick back up a little bit,” he said.