Daines' Effort to Block Sheep Station Closure Successful

Press Release

Representative Steve Daines today announced that following his urging, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will not close the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho.

Daines had been working with other Western members of Congress to prevent the closure after the USDA requested to reprogram the funds from the sheep station. Daines and the other members were successful in urging a House agricultural appropriations subcommittee to deny the USDA's reprogramming request.

"Closing the Dubois center would have a significant and far-reaching impact because it would be next to impossible to duplicate the research that is conducted there at another location. I'm pleased that this station will remain open and continue its important research that enhances Montana's livestock industry," Daines said.

The station, which had been slated to be closed on November 3 if Congress did not act, conducts important research for sheep producers in Montana and across the west, such as improving grazing techniques, fighting diseases and developing new breeds.

"We know firsthand the value of the research conducted at the Dubois center and the economic benefit it provides the sheep industry," Daines and the others wrote to Representative Robert Aderholt, chairman of the agriculture appropriations subcommittee that blocked the closure. "ARS is currently conducting important research on how the interaction between domestic and bighorn sheep may impact wild sheep herds, an issue of critical importance to the sheep industry in the west."

Other signers of the letter were Representatives Mike Simpson (Idaho), Doc Hastings (Wash.), Greg Walden (Ore.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) and Raul Labrador (Idaho).

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