About us
For the Sheep, Since 2002
California Wild Sheep Foundation is the California chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation — a nonprofit working to keep wild sheep on this state’s mountains through conservation, education and sound science.
Our mission
Wild Sheep, Wild Places, Sound Science
California Wild Sheep Foundation is dedicated to supporting California’s wild sheep through conservation, education, scientific wildlife management and cooperation with key wild sheep organizations within California and the western United States.
Formed in 2002 and incorporated in California, CAWSF is one chapter of a continent-wide effort. In practice that means water in dry country, science behind the management decisions that follow, and a standing invitation to every agency and organization doing the same work in the West.
- Founded
- 2002
- Affiliation
- Wild Sheep Foundation
- Nonprofit tax ID
- 68-0481140
What we do
Water, Science and the People in the Room
Three lines of work, funded by members and donors and carried out with the agencies that manage California’s wild sheep.
Habitat and water
Give a Lamb a Drink
GALAD is the program the chapter is best known for. It funds and builds the water drinkers and guzzlers that carry desert bighorn through drought — the difference, in a dry year, between a herd that holds its range and one that leaves it.
Science and research
Fund the Work Decisions Rest On
Scientific wildlife management is only as good as the data behind it. CAWSF backs the disease and population research that decisions about California’s herds depend on, so that what happens on the mountain is answered with evidence rather than argument.
Partnership and advocacy
Convene the California Sheep Summits
No one organization manages wild sheep across a state this size. Twice a year CAWSF convenes the California Sheep Summits, putting state and federal agencies in the same room as biologists and volunteers, and works alongside the other wild sheep organizations of California and the western United States.
Agencies at the table
- CDFW
- US Forest Service
- Bureau of Land Management
- National Park Service
Leadership
Who Leads the Chapter
Jim Fitzgerald
President, CAWSF
Our banquet was a great success this year, and I’d like to start by thanking our attendees for showing up. It seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves, and I know I did. It couldn’t have happened without all of our donors either. They are an integral part of our chapter...
Get involved
Two Ways to Put Sheep on the Mountain
Every drinker, every study and every summit on this page is paid for by members and donors.