Montana

Montana rancher gets 6 months in prison for creating hybrid sheep for captive hunting

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1 year ago

October 1, 2024

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Montana rancher gets 6 months in prison for creating hybrid sheep for captive hunting

The rancher created a clone using the body parts of sheep that were illegally bought. His goal was to “create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities.”

A Montana rancher was sentenced to six months in prison on Monday after cloning a “near threatened” sheep from Asia and then selling its offspring to shooting preserves, according to court documents.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, will spend six months in federal prison, with a 3-year supervised release and have to pay a $20,000 fine and a $4,000 community service payment for cloning the near-threatened Marco Polo sheep from the Asian country Kyrgyzstan.

Schubarth was sentenced for committing two felonies, conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Lacey Act is a law that bans the trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish, or plants.

Schubarth and at least five other people conspired to “create a larger hybrid species of sheep that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves” from 2013 to 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Schubarth’s criminal conduct is not how Montanans treat our wildlife population,” said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana in a statement. “Indeed, his actions threatened Montana’s native wildlife species for no other reason than he and his co-conspirators wanted to make more money.”

Rancher illegally bought parts of the sheep

The rancher illegally brought parts of the near-threatened Marco Polo argali sheep, one of the largest sheep species in the world, weighing 300 pounds or more, to the U.S. from the Asian country Kyrgyzstan, court records show.

From 2013 to 2021, Schubarth also sold mountain sheep, mountain goats and various other hoofed animals primarily to captive hunting facilities, according to the Justice Department.

Captive hunting facilities, or shooting preserves, allow “allow trophy hunters to shoot animals who are fenced in,” according to the Humane Society of the United States. “The animals are often semi-tame—some have even been hand raised or bottle fed by humans.”

“Argali sheep are trophy hunted due to their large size and unique long spiraling horns,” according to court documents. “Argali horns are the largest of any wild sheep.”

Argali sheep have a market value of over $350 per animal, according to court documents.

A protected species

The sheep are natives to the high elevations of the Pamir region of Central Asia, and “are prohibited in the State of Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization,” the Justice Department said.

The sheep are protected around the world by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and domestically by the Endangered Species Act, according to the Department of Justice.

“This case exemplifies the serious threat that wildlife trafficking poses to our native species and ecosystems,” said Assistant Director Edward Grace of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in a statement. “Mr. Schubarth’s actions not only violated multiple laws designed to protect wildlife, but also risked introducing diseases and compromising the genetic integrity of our wild sheep populations.

Schubarth pleaded guilty in March

The rancher admitted to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act while owning and operating under Sun River Enterprises LLC, according to court documents filed in March in the District of Montana.

The crime has since “ruined his life, reputation and family,” said his attorneys.

He committed the crimes at Schubarth Ranch, a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch in Vaughn, Montana, records show.

“On a ranch, in a barn in Montana, he created Montana Mountain King (MMK),” the sentencing memorandum submitted by Schubarth’s attorneys stated. “MMK is an extraordinary animal, born of science, and from a man who, if he could re-write history, would have left the challenge of cloning a Marco Polo to only the imagination of Michael Crichton (the author of Jurassic Park).”

How did Schubarth create the giant hybrid sheep?

To create the hybrid sheep, Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali parts to a third-party lab to generate cloned embryos, according to the Justice Department. He paid a $4,200 deposit for the cloning, according to court records.

The rancher and his co-conspirators then used artificial breeding procedures to implant the 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos into female sheep on Schubarth Ranch, court records show.

Schubarth’s process would result in a single pure genetic male Marco Polo argali named “Montana Mountain King” or “MMK,” the Justice Department said. The rancher then used MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate other female sheep that were illegally possessed in Montana to create “hybrid animals,” according to federal authorities.

Schubarth’s and his co-conspirator’s goal was to “create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas,” the Justice Department said.

Schubarth illegally sold sheep across the US, DOJ says

Moving the sheep in and out of Montana meant Schubarth and others had to forge veterinary inspection certificates and lie about how the sheep were legally permitted animals, according to court documents. The rancher would also sell MMK’s semen directly to sheep breeders in other U.S. states, the documents continued.

In addition to argali sheep, Schubarth illegally bought genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana, court records show. He violated Montana law by purchasing parts of the wild-hunted sheep and selling them. He also sold big horn parts in different states, federal authorities said.

“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the release. “In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals.”

Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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6 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

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Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

12 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

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Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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