2014

Western Desert  Historic Geology  Wild Features Driving Tours  Dark-Sky Wildlife Protection Need About Us

    Research in the 1980’s by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Arizona Game and Fish determined that desert bighorn sheep no longer inhabit Saddle Mountain. Back then, human activities included a dirt bike race and a ‘treasure trove’ mining operation. Archaeology sites and wildlife habitat were damaged.  
    But when those human activities ended the desert bighorn sheep began returning.  By the late 1980’s Tonopah Area Coalition members began gaining evidence of desert bighorn sheep (DBS) at Saddle Mountain.  In 1990, Arizona Game & Fish Department confirmed that a radio collared bachelor had traveled from the Gila River and Woolsey Peak to Bill Williams River via Saddle Mountain.
    Since then the connection between the Gila Mountains and the remote, south-side, of Saddle Mountain is well documented.  The benefits of this connection is essential to the continued success of the regional population of desert bighorn sheep.  
    Research by Paul Krausman (University of Arizona) shows that the cliffs, steep terrain and numerous canyons of desert mountain ranges like Saddle Mountain provide DBS lambs with the protection they need during their early life.       Wildlife linkages (east and west plus Linkage 64 north to Burnt Mountain) are essential to continued  success.  The linkages for the growing population in the Belmont Mountain, Hummingbird Springs, Harquahala Peak complex are also needed to assure genetic diversity for these clusters of isolated DBS populations.  Here is more information about desert bighorn sheep at Saddle Mountain.

  Maintaining the wildlife linkages across the fragile western desert are a fundamental part of the Sonoran Desert Heritage proposal.
   After considerable adjustments, the SDH plan balances access and recreational activities with wildlife conservation and is why the Western Desert Association supports the Sonoran Desert Heritage proposal.  

Watchable wildlife is part of the unique values within the crescent of the western desert. Binoculars and telephoto camera lenses are easy ways to enjoy wildlife from afar. These two photographs show distant desert bighorn sheep and desert tortoise.

RETURN OF DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP