When a backcountry skier hits the high mountain slopes above Jackson Hole, Wyoming, they’re not alone. These high elevation hide outs are also home to Bighorn Sheep. And there may not be room enough for both in this western landscape. Skiers and sheep are competing for space and wildlife officials are taking drastic measures that some people are not super happy about. 

I’ve seen this kind of tension on every continent I’ve ever worked on - ramming heads in the world’s wild places. But this story is unique because the conflict isn’t strip mining, it's not logging, or housing developments, it’s people playing in the mountains - maybe that’s the hardest thing in the world for humans to give up. When we’re out loving nature, might we just love parts of it to death? Even if we don’t know we’re doing that?

Well, it’s all unfolding in the bighorn sheep country of the Wyoming Rockies. 

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THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.

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