The stretch of highway between the small Montana communities of Thompson Falls and Plains is known for the beautiful vistas of the Clark Fork River and the surrounding mountains and cliffs. The drive is also recognized for a resident bighorn sheep herd that is frequently seen along Highway 200 east of the Thompson River. When visiting, please drive with caution because the sheep are often near the roadway and their numbers are declining.
Bighorn sheep (Ovis Canadensis) are native to the cliffs that accompany the highway east of Thompson Falls. The population was once extirpated from the area due to a disease borne from domestic sheep and from excessive hunting. Bighorn sheep were reintroduced to the region in the 1950s and until recently have flourished. Predators are not responsible for the rapid demise of the species in the region, this one we cant blame on wolves and grizzly bears.
As traffic and speed have increased over the years, a dangerous trend began. Sometime in the mid 1980s, the bighorn sheep began to die at an ever-increasing rate in collisions with trucks and cars.
As recently as 2008 the bighorn sheep population in the area numbered approximately 207 animals. Now as we enter 2013 only 50 sheep remain, a precipitous decline. The numbers are staggering, in a single 15-mile stretch of highway over 400 bighorn sheep have been killed in vehicular collisions since 1985, in a single year 36 died, a trucker from Butte killed 11 in one single accident.
The sheep are attracted to the road surface and shoulder by the deicer used by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT). The sheep can be seen licking the salty compound from the highway pavement. The bighorns move slowly and are fearless which makes them very vulnerable to highway collisions. A speeding 3,000 lb. vehicle with an inattentive or irresponsible driver is lethal for a species that has no innate fear or comprehension of traffic.
Bighorn sheep are very special creatures and they need our help. Most of the collisions are avoidable because unlike deer, the sheep do not cross the highway at night and rarely make sudden moves into traffic. If we could get traffic to slow and lure the herd back into the cliffs the recent tragic trend could be reversed. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks have worked tirelessly to save the herd but unfortunately the fate of the bighorn sheep is in the hands of motorists and MDOT.
What you can do: Write the Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT) and ask them to lower the speed limit along the stretch of highway where bighorn sheep tend to congregate. Also ask MDOT to find an alternative to the magnesium chloride as a deicer.