Annually on the first weekend of March, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife organizes an event to count the population of bighorn sheep (Ovis candadensis nelsonii) in the San Gabriel Mountain Range. This survey is held with the support of the U.S. Forest Service and volunteers from the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep. This work is important as it indicates the overall health of the herd, and gives the public a chance to work directly with  CDFW on an important study project.

The 2025 San Gabriel Bighorn  Sheep Census will occur on Sunday, March 2.  Register now to attend the in-person orientation in Arcadia on Saturday March 1 at 6 pm. 

Register Here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx...

Space is limited for the 2025 Census, so when we've reached the quota the registration will end.

The San Gabriel Survey utilizes a simultaneous ground and aerial count. Several bighorn sheep in the region has been marked and collared in the past. With re-sighting of the marked sheep and the overlapping aerial and ground crews, a reliable estimate of the population can be derived through statistical methods based on the actual observations. The ground crews are manned by volunteers from the general public and experienced trail leaders.

The DFW and U.S.Forest Service provides a mandatory orientation the evening before the census count so that the volunteers can be educated in observation and classification techniques of bighorn sheep.

There are approximately nine trails that require volunteer groups: Lookout Mountain, Cattle Canyon, Day and Deer Canyons, Barrett-Cascade Canyon, South Fork of Lytle Creek, Middle Fork of Lytle Creek, Highway 39, Mt Baldy and the South Fork of Big Rock Creek.