The State - News from Feb. 19, 1986

Weather problems have delayed a plan to re-establish a herd of bighorn sheep along the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park, a state wildlife biologist said in Bishop. The state Fish and Game Department planned to begin rounding up 25 of the rare sheep today at Mt. Baxter 40 miles south of Bishop for transfer to Lee Vining Canyon near Mono Lake outside the park. But wind, poor visibility, rain at the capture site and snow at the release site prompted organizers to postpone the capture until March 4, project leader Vern Bleich said. “There is a very, very, very large amount of snow at the release site . . . and we do not want to jeopardize the success of the operation by releasing the animals under less than ideal circumstances,” Bleich said. The project is designed to return bighorn sheep to an area where they have been absent since 1914.