The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is taking some novel steps in southwest Colorado to lessen potentially dangerous encounters between backcountry recreationalists and livestock-protection dogs.
The BLM is posting to let hikers and mountain bikers know where sheep herds and the dogs protecting them might be encountered. The map is centered on the Silverton area and the Colorado Trail, where many of the .
The BLM also is working with sheep ranchers to develop a pilot program for next year that will give herders global positioning system devices. The herders will download flocks’ locations so the public can check that information online and learn where protection dogs are. That project will go into effect at the beginning of the grazing season next summer. This year’s grazing season ends this month.
“We recognize the use of livestock-protection dogs as an important nonlethal method for predator control, and we are working to improve our outreach efforts to ensure the public is aware of potential interactions between various users on the trails as we manage for all the important multiple uses in and around the Silverton area,” said Connie Clements, manager of the BLM’s eight-county Tres Rios Field area.
In the meantime, the BLM advises hikers and bicyclists to alter their routes if they encounter bands of sheep and the large white dogs that protect them. The BLM has published information on if an encounter with the dogs is unavoidable.
