National Bighorn Sheep Center

NBSC Hours of Operation Update:

The NBSC will be closed for maintenance Sunday, September 20 –  Wednesday, September 30. We appreciate your patience during this closure and will look forward to sharing our updated exhibit space with you when we reopen October 1st. In the mean time feel free to check our education page for learning tools and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date with Bighorn Sheep news.

ED Job Announcement:

Job applications for the Executive Director position are now available. Applications will be available August 17 – September 18 2020. For those interested in this position, apply HERE.

The National Bighorn Sheep Center is OPEN to visitors! Our Autumn hours run September 8th-December 19th and are 10am-4pm, Monday-Saturday. We will be closed Sundays. Please be aware that we have protocol that we will be asking all of our visitors to follow (see the signage at COVID-19 and at our front doors for details). Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to hosting you!

Teachers, Parents and Students, we are here to help! Please visit our PROGRAMS page for lessons, activities and more that YOU can do from home! Go to: https://bighorn.org/programs/. If curious about upcoming events check out our EVENTS page to see what we’re up to and what you can become a part of. Visit: https://bighorn.org/events/ . 

photo: Bill Sincavage

Inspire

photo: Sara Domek

Educate

photo: Nick Dobric

Conserve

iNaturalist Citizen Science Project “Dubois Invasive Species Watch”

In early 2020, working with our partners with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Lander Regional office), we prioritized the development of a new citizen-science led effort to help identify and record locations of invasive plant species in the larger Dubois area. Lots of Dubois-area residents and visitors have expressed desire to help our local bighorns and other wildlife in a tangible form, and we all agreed that prioritizing this citizen-science opportunity was a great fit!

Using the fun and user-friend app called “iNaturalist” we developed the Dubois Invasive Species Watch is a Citizen Science Project to help land managers identify the extent of invasive species in the area surrounding Whiskey Basin Wildlife Habitat Management Area and the larger Dubois area. Bighorn sheep are a community-wide iconic wildlife species that depends heavily on intact winter range and migration corridors. Rapidly responding to invasive species infestations will help maintain habitat for this and other wildlife species in the area.

Everyone can help! All you have to do is upload the iNaturalist app onto your devise, join the project (Dubois Invasive Species Watch), and while you’re out and about hiking, riding or exploring the beautiful landscapes around Dubois within the project area, keep your eyes out for some of the more common (and wildlife-challenging!) invasive species and make observations with your phone. The specific locations, photos and descriptions of the plants you see will be uploaded to the project site and used in real-time by habitat biologists.

We hosted a free zoom training for volunteers on May 28, 2020, and a link to this recorded video session can be viewed by clicking this link. You can also see the powerpoint itself (without video) by clicking this link: DuboisInvasiveSpeciesWatchTraining. Additionally, please check out this flier below for how YOU can help in this ongoing project to help our local wildlife:

Flier

Whiskey Basin Collaborative Project

WHISKEY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP
UNDERSTANDING AND SOLUTIONS THROUGH COLLABORATION
In early 2019, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) in partnership with the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation, the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center and the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute engaged in a public involvement process to explore management concerns, issues, and opportunities for the Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep herd. The Whiskey Mountain bighorn sheep herd was once one of the largest and most nationally recognized herds in the nation and it has been declining since an all age die-off in the early 1990’s. The herd continues to stay below the desired population size primarily because lamb survival is very low. At one time there were an estimated 2,500 sheep in this population; today there are about 750.

WHY DO THIS?
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department simply doesn’t have all the answers to turn this important bighorn sheep population around. There is much to be learned about how to best address this decline and perhaps implement new or different management strategies and projects to attempt to arrest and reverse this trend. To do this, we must consider a different approach that includes all who are interested and passionate about this herd.

Additionally, in 2019, NBSC began exploring Citizen Science Data Collection as one way for the public to get involved and help with the observations of bighorn sheep in the Whiskey Basin area. The University of Wyoming has provided the basic data collection form in the bottom link below, and the public is encouraged to help provide observational data through this form to the University.

LINKS BELOW:

For a link to the full Situational Assessment, released on December 19, 2018, please click the first link below.

For a link to the full notes from the first February 2019 meeting, please click the second link below.

For links to the April 2019 workshop agenda, professionals input and issues summary from the February meeting see the third-fifth sets of links below.

For a link to the Citizen Science Observation Form, please see the sixth link below.

Read the DRAFT Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Plan in the final link below.

Whiskey Mountain Situation Assessment Final

Whiskey Mountain BHS Workshop 1 Notes Final

Final Agenda Workshop 2

WMBHS Scientists Recommendations

WMBHS Issues Spreadsheet Final

CitizenScienceDataSheet

The updated management plan as of July 17, 2019. Read it Here:

WMBHSI-FINAL-PLAN-2019

Special Events and Outreach

See the schedule of upcoming special events on the Events Page

LEARN MORE

LOCATION

10 Bighorn Lane, just off the main street in beautiful Dubois, Wyoming next to the Dubois Historical Museum. Look for our big bronze ram “Ram Country”.

SEASONAL HOURS

Autumn Hours
September 8, 2020 – December 19, 2020
Open 10am – 4pm, Monday – Saturday
Closed on Sundays

Winter Hours
December 20, 2020 – March 31, 2021
Open 10am – 4pm, Tuesday – Saturday
Closed on Sundays & Mondays

Summer Hours
June 12, 2020 – September 7, 2020
Open 9am – 5pm, Open Every Day!

Special Closure Dates
Closed October 12: Indigenous People’s Day
Closed November 11: Veterans Day
Closed November 25: Thanksgiving Day
Closed December 24 & 25: Christmas
Closed December 31 & January 1: New Year’s Eve & Day

photo: Jay Lunsford

photo: Bill Sincavage

ADMISSION

Adults age 18 and over: $6

Youth ages 8 – 17: $3

Children ages 7 and under: FREE

Adult Group (8 or more), Seniors (age 60 and over) and Military: $5

Youth Group (8 or more): $2

Current Members and VIPs: FREE

School Groups: $2 per student, but sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact us to set up your tour by calling 307-455-3429

Find out more about us and our work

The National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which is dedicated to educating people about the bighorn sheep and the conservation of wildlife and wild lands. We accomplish this mission through exhibits which inspire our visitors, programs which educate youth and adults alike and special events, outreach and partnerships which help conserve bighorn sheep and other wildlife and wildlife habitat.


The Association operates the National Bighorn Sheep Center in beautiful Dubois, Wyoming. The National Bighorn Sheep Center features dioramas with full-scale taxidermy mounts that recreate bighorn habitat, interactive exhibits about wildlife management and special adaptations of wild sheep, and wildlife films the whole family will enjoy.

photo: Bill Sincavage

Plan Your Visit To Bighorn Sheep Center

Education Program: LAMBS (Lessons, Activities & Materials about Bighorn Sheep)

The National Bighorn Sheep Center is proud of our growing LAMBS education program. We welcome teachers, youth or adult program leaders, or other organizations to schedule a field trip to visit the Center or arrange a tour with our Traveling Education Trunks. These popular options are described in more detail on our education page, but we also have many other activities and lessons to offer and can customize a program for a specific group.

Group Tours

We can offer special programs and rates for bus tours and small and large groups of all sizes. Please contact us for more information.