Founder of Palm Desert's Bighorn Institute​ Honored By USFWS

PALM DESERT, CA — On Friday, the country recognized Endangered Species Day — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service celebrated by honoring the achievements of Jim DeForge, founder of Palm Desert's Bighorn Institute.

DeForge was spotlighted by the federal agency for his efforts to promote the recovery of the endangered Peninsular Ranges population of bighorn sheep.

The USFWS calls DeForge a "Recovery Champion" — someone who devotes himself to bringing back endangered and threatened animals and plants. In addition to DeForge, members of the Amargosa vole team were also honored in USFWS's Pacific Southwest Region 8 for their work in protecting the Amargosa vole.

The vole inhabits highly localized and isolated wetlands in the central Mojave Desert in extreme southeastern Inyo County, just east of Death Valley National Park. It is considered one of the most narrowly distributed subspecies of mammals known, according to the USFWS.

Scott Sobiech, field supervisor of the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, said DeForge's work and that of the vole team highlight the importance USFWS partners play in helping recover endangered species.

“Partners are a key component in helping our agency achieve its mission and I want to thank the 2020 Recovery Champions for their outstanding contributions to recovery," Sobiech said.

DeForge's work protecting bighorn sheep spans four decades. He founded the Bighorn Institute in 1982 "with a focus on conserving bighorn populations following a devastating disease outbreak," according to the USFWS.

The Bighorn Institute began a captive breeding and population program in 1984 and has since released 127 captive-reared bighorn to the wild, according to the USFWS.

In the early 2000s, DeForge's perseverance generated the cooperation needed to fund and install a 5-mile-long bighorn protection fence in the City of Rancho Mirage to prevent the native sheep from entering highways and other urban-related hazards, and improve their survival in the Northern Santa Rosa Mountains Recovery Region.

Peninsular bighorn have inhabited the northern Santa Rosa Mountains along the south rim of the Coachella Valley for thousands of years. During the 1950s, urban sprawl led to a gradual sheep population decrease. By the 1980s, lamb mortality as a result of car accidents, disease, drownings, and consumption of decorative but poisonous flora had reached 90 percent. Prospects for the herd's survival were poor.

As a result of DeForge's efforts, the Peninsular bighorn sheep population continues to improve. Learn more about the Bighorn Institute here.