Ranger Cites 3 Protesters for Harassing Sheep Hunters

Three members of radical environmental groups who spent the weekend disrupting hunters as they tracked rare bighorn sheep were cited by a federal ranger for their activities, authorities said Monday.

A federal ranger cited the members of Earth First! and two affiliated environmental groups Sunday as legally permitted hunters tracked bighorn sheep in the mountains of San Bernardino County, said Candy Johnson, spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The environmentalists have been following the hunters and warning the sheep with air horns and whistles, said Earth First! spokesman Michael Robinson. “They have been told they will be arrested but that doesn’t faze them,” Robinson said.

Bighorn species had been protected since 1873 when the animals were close to extinction. When the ban expired at the end of last year, the Legislature approved limited hunting.