(MCT) – A draft plan from the Bureau of Land Management proposes to close three of its four domestic sheep grazing allotments along the Salmon River east of Riggins. Closing the grazing areas would help reduce transmission of pneumonia from domestic sheep to native bighorn sheep, according to the plan. But it could also put a nail in the coffin of sheep ranchers who have increasingly been losing grazing territory there because of concerns about the health of wild sheep. None of the allotments identified for closure have been active for the past few years. Two of them have been closed by a court order, pending completion of the agency's revision of its grazing plans. On two others, the operator has voluntarily stopped using the allotments. Even so, one of the ranchers said if the draft doesn't change, it will harm the local economy. Mick Carlson of Riggins has run sheep on his ranch since 1952. The ranch has been operated by his family for about 100 years. The draft plan, written by the Cottonwood Field Office of the BLM, would close the 9,500-acre Partridge Creek Allotment where Carlson once ran sheep. It would also close the 4,200-acre Marshal Mountain and the 5,200-acre Hard Creek allotments used by the Soulen Livestock Company of Weiser. The 439-acre Big Creek allotment used by Soulen Livestock would remain open. Carlson has also lost grazing ground in the Payette and Nez Perce-Clearwater national forests. "My ranch is in the middle of that. What the hell do I do with a sheep ranch that is in the middle of it?" he said. "You can't pack it up and move it." He said Idaho County is losing tax income from not only his ranch but also from the businesses he once frequented to purchase supplies. "This time of year I would have spent $35,000 to $40,000 at the Union Warehouse in Grangeville," he said. It's tough for him because he believes domestic sheep don't threaten bighorns and he said there aren't any bighorn sheep on his grazing allotments. "There has never been a mountain sheep on it that I ever saw," he said. "It's a bunch of baloney. It's false science and everything else. There is no truth to any part of it." That contradicts a study by the Nez Perce Tribe that showed there are about 300 bighorn sheep between Lake Creek Bridge east of Riggins and Red Creek deep in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area. (See related story.) Officials from the BLM did not return phone messages asking for comments on the plan. The study is open for a 45-day public comment period. The agency will hold public meetings May 20 at the Salmon Rapids Lodge in Riggins and June 17 at the Nez Perce Forest office in Grangeville. Both meetings will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The draft plan is available for review at http://on.doi.gov/141nQks.