(SALIDA, Colo.) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologists will begin surveying high-elevation bighorn sheep and mountain goat populations in the Sawatch Range in Chaffee and Lake counties starting Monday, August 12 via helicopter.

“Every year, CPW biologists inventory thousands of big game animals statewide to develop a picture of the productivity and composition of big game in Colorado,” said Julie Stiver, Senior Wildlife Biologist for CPW’s Southeast Region. “The data is critical to our work of forming population models, [and] management strategies and to set future hunting license numbers.”

Depending on the weather, the flights are expected to last three to four days and will take place in the Sawatch Range from Mount Ouray to Leadville. CPW said that disturbances by the flights will typically only last a few minutes in any area.

“The helicopters will only spend a brief amount of time in a specific area to count and categorize individual herds and then move on, searching for more bighorn sheep and mountain goats,” said Stiver.