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Show leview - Wednesday, August 1, 1984 - Page 6 ; . : : : iff, . . . . i f .... - . 2 - ' -r : ' . i . Rain fighters, Heath Johnston, left, Deon Giles and Jin, Trinnaman wtre given a special tribute for their day and night efforts to keep the diamonds in shape for the 32-tea.n Pony League tournament last week. Iff goats eat anything, will they eat up Timp.? The release of 10 Rocky Mountain goats on Mt. Timpanogos east of Pleasant Grove this month has been delayed. Grant Jense, big game program coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says the goats were supposed to be captured in Washington's Olympic National Park. "National Park Service biologists wanted to remove 50 goats from Klahhane Ridge ,and we were to get 10 of them. But so far only 19 goats have been captured, and prospects aren't too good for catching our 10 this month. We'll try for the goats again in August." Rocky Mountain goats were introduced in-troduced into Utah in 1967, when a few animals were trapped near Wenatchee, Wash., and released near the Lone Peak Wilderness area not far from Salt Lake City. That herd has done well, numbering almost 100 animals last year. Limited hunting permits have been issued for the Lone Peak goats since 1982. Recent goat releases on Mt. Timpanogos and Mt. Olympus have established small herds there. This year's release would have increased the Timpanogos herd, to about 30 animals. But Jense is optimistic about the future of Rocky Mountain goats along northern Utah's Wasatch Front. "We'll eventually have a good population of goats from Mt. Olympus to Provo Canyon," says the big game biologist. "We still have some vacant habitat up there, but we'll just have to wait for the goats to fill it." : Jense says the Rocky Mountain goaf is a highly prized big game . animal. But he adds that the limited hunting opportunity is not the only reason for having the animals in Utah. "Backpackers in the Mt. Olympus and Timpanogos areas often report seeing the goats, and that certainly adds to the quality of their outdoor experience. We believe the goats were there historically but disappeared for some reason, probably due to climatic changes. It's just nice to know, that they're up there where they belong again." |