Richard Ianello, from CDFW, reached out to Rick Halter earlier this year to help find a suitable “base camp” location for a sheep capture in the Panamint Mountains.
Rick Halter is friends with some of the owners and proprietors of Ballerat Ghost Town and the Cerro Gordo Mine. Rick was able to put CDFW in touch with the owners, Elizabeth DeBell and Chuck Stowe, who gave CDFW permission to camp, land helicopter, and use this site on private property for the work that needed done.
Sheep were captured in the Panamints, then transported to Ballarat, where they were processed by CDFW biologists. After being fitted with collars, the sheep were flown back to where they were originally captured and released. Rick also assisted the CDFW crew in attaching collars on bighorn sheep and recording scientific data used by the DFW.
Rick is a regular volunteer with the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep (SCBS) and part of the elite Newberry Water Haul crew. Rick frequently volunteers on other water projects throughout the year.
