{"id":706,"date":"2026-01-08T16:41:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/impact.nwf.org\/2025\/?post_type=story&p=706"},"modified":"2026-01-29T22:59:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:59:04","slug":"thousands-of-acres-of-connectivity-restored-for-bighorn-sheep","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/impact.nwf.org\/2025\/stories\/thousands-of-acres-of-connectivity-restored-for-bighorn-sheep\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Acres of Connectivity Restored for Bighorn Sheep"},"content":{"rendered":"


NWF negotiated a financial agreement with a rancher to cancel their grazing permits<\/a> on three high-elevation grazing allotments in the San Juan mountain range of southwestern Colorado, covering nearly 40,000 acres. The allotments have been grazed for over 100 years and overlap with one of the nation\u2019s most important bighorn sheep herds. This agreement connects over 100,000 acres of adjacent allotments retired at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n\n

Photo Credit: Matt Payne<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NWF negotiated a financial agreement with a rancher to cancel their grazing permits on three high-elevation grazing allotments in the San Juan mountain range of southwestern Colorado, covering nearly 40,000 acres. The allotments have been grazed for over 100 years and overlap with one of the nation\u2019s most important bighorn sheep herds. This agreement connects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":693,"template":"","meta":{"featured_image_background_position":"","location":"Colorado","address-full":"","lat":37.811557,"lng":-107.663965,"footnotes":""},"topic":[4],"pillar":[5],"class_list":["post-706","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-state-stories","pillar-wildlife-recovery-and-habitat-restoration"],"yoast_head":"\nThousands of Acres of Connectivity Restored for Bighorn Sheep - 2025 Impact Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/impact.nwf.org\/2025\/stories\/thousands-of-acres-of-connectivity-restored-for-bighorn-sheep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thousands of Acres of Connectivity Restored for Bighorn Sheep - 2025 Impact Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NWF negotiated a financial agreement with a rancher to cancel their grazing permits on three high-elevation grazing allotments in the San Juan mountain range of southwestern Colorado, covering nearly 40,000 acres. 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