Working on a comeback

Severe declines in the bighorn sheep population in the San Gabriel Mountains, from 523 counted by aerial surveys in 1981 to 33 in 1999, led the state to begin a restoration program in 2003. By monitoring the sheep and attempting to enhance their habitat, the program hopes to restore the population to a self-sustaining level of 322 sheep overall and quotas of sheep in certain areas for six consecutive years. Higher population counts in recent years are encouraging.