The Region 2 (Southwest Region) handles a variety of state grant programs, ranging from the more than half-a-century-old Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs, to relatively recent additions such as State Wildlife Grants. Approximately $80 million in federal funding is awarded each year through the nine grant programs to eligible state agencies in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Thanks to successful partnerships forged decades ago, the public continues to benefit from fish and wildlife conservation, management and restoration efforts in the southwest.
Service, New Mexico Game and Fish Partner to Increase Desert Bighorn Sheep Numbers
December 2009
Desert bighorn sheep were placed on the New Mexico state endangered species list in 1980. Since that time, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has implemented programs to increase the wild population. The Red Rock captive breeding facility has provided a source herd for transplants into the wild since the first transplant in 1979. As a result of these transplants, combined with other management actions, desert bighorn sheep were downlisted to state threatened in 2008. In New Mexico, desert bighorn sheep restoration is supported, in part, by funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife Restoration Program - yet another good example of the federal/state partnership in action.
Bighorn Sheep Capture |
