Cash for conservation: Farmer helps save bighorns from deadly bacteria by buying discarded wool

Jennifer Bowes noticed something was wrong with her flock in 2018 when some of her sheep started coughing, and their wool started breaking apart.

Within weeks, seven of her lambs were dead.

"It was initially very concerning," said Bowes, a farmer in Brisco, B.C., near the Alberta border, who raises sheep for wool. 

"Farmers don't really want to see their livestock suffering." 

After inconclusive appointments with veterinarians, she eventually determined — with the help of the Wild Sheep Society of B.C. — that her sick sheep had a deadly bacterial infection.

The bacteria, commonly known as m.ovi, has caused large-scale die-offs in bighorn sheep herds, killing approximately 70 per cent of the Fraser River's bighorn sheep population, according to the Wild Sheep Society. 

In an effort to stop the spread, Bowes and the society are launching a program that will pay farmers for wool they would otherwise throw away — but only if they test their sheep for the bacteria.

Her project is one of several in British Columbia that offers farmers money to protect the environment. 

Often these projects are known as payment for ecosystem services programs, or PES programs. They offer financial incentives to landowners or farmers in exchange for conserving natural resources. 

Bowes hopes that by offering an incentive to test, she will stop the spread of bacteria from domestic to wild sheep, which occurs through shared grazing areas.

She also hopes to grow B.C.'s wool industry. Currently, most B.C. sheep farmers dispose of their wool and make money from sheep meat.

"I've seen piles of wool getting burned," said Bowes, whose 120-hectare ranch has approximately 150 sheep.

"There's so many uses for it, and to see it getting wasted is just kind of a sin."

Bowes will offer guaranteed payments for sheep wool as long as farmers track and manage outbreaks in their flocks, which can be costly and time-consuming. The payments are funded by the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund.

Rewards for responsible use of resources

Incentive-based programs like Bowes's have been implemented worldwide by nature trusts and conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Federation. They reward responsible use of resources that farmers or landowners could otherwise use for more lucrative purposes at the expense of the environment. 

Dave Zehnder is a cattle rancher from Invermere, B.C., who started another incentive-based program, Farmland Advantage. 

Farmland Advantage offers farmers around B.C. payment in exchange for protecting riparian areas and grasslands. For example, farmers who keep their cattle away from streams, maintain grassland habitat on their properties or avoid drawing water from rivers during drought conditions receive payments through the program. 

Zehnder founded Farmland Advantage because he says farmers sometimes don't have the financial resources to implement environmentally friendly practices. 

"The profit margins are very thin in farming," said Zehnder. "This enables them to take these actions which they normally couldn't." 

Zehnder has a wait-list of farmers hoping to receive funding from his program. 

One of the farms participating in Zehnder's program is Bowes's sheep farm. She's received money to build a fence to keep her flock away from a wetland on her property.

"It's a win-win," said Bowes. 

"It's really important to me to strike a balance between having a farm and protecting wildlife and habitat."

CBC British Columbia has launched a Cranbrook bureau to help tell the stories of the Kootenays with reporter Brendan Coulter. Story ideas and tips can be sent to brendan.coulter@cbc.ca.