State Wildlife Board Criticizes BLM's Wild Horse Management

SALT LAKE CITY — The State Wildlife Board has voiced its concerns over the federal government's management of wild horses in Utah, highlighting the excessive numbers and the resulting environmental impact.

In a unanimous decision, the board agreed to send a strongly worded letter to Juan Palma, director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Utah, and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. The letter urges the agency to take action to reduce the number of horses on the range.

Kevin Bunnell, regional supervisor with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, noted that Iron, Beaver, and Sanpete counties have formally requested the board's input on rangeland degradation and its risks to livestock and wildlife.

Wild horse numbers have surpassed their "appropriate" management levels per BLM policy, creating conflicts with ranchers and sportsmen. In April, Iron and Beaver counties threatened to take independent action amid a national controversy over a Nevada rancher's cattle facing removal by the BLM due to unpaid grazing fees.

Utah ranchers in Beaver and Iron counties are frustrated by the agency's request last September to voluntarily reduce their cattle numbers due to its inability to manage wild horse populations.

The BLM reports that horses and burros number 3,245 in Utah, while the "appropriate management levels" are set at 1,956.

"It is a huge situation," said Mike Worthen, Iron County's natural resources supervisor. "The horses are eating themselves out of house and home, and with it comes the wildlife."

Worthen stated that horses in the Bible Springs complex number about 500 or more, while BLM herd management levels suggest these populations should not exceed 180 animals.

Although the BLM hopes to conduct a wild horse gather after July, Worthen and others urged the wildlife board to press the agency to act due to the dire condition of the rangeland.

"These horses have been a problem for many years, and this drought has really brought it to the forefront," said Byron Bateman, president of Sportsmen For Fish and Wildlife. "We have invested a lot of money in habitat projects and water projects, and these horses are doing irreparable harm."

Bateman and others emphasized that beyond impacts to ranchers, the horses are destroying prime rangeland, affecting all the animals the ecosystem is supposed to support.

"It is a sad thing to see something as neat as a wild horse get to the levels they are and literally eat themselves out of a home," said board member John Bair.

Bair recounted his recent visit to the southwest desert, where he was shocked by the conditions.

"The rangeland there looked like the floor in this room. The horses are suffering, the habitat is being devastated," he said. "I don't know if we could ever do enough to offset the devastation that is coming from these animals."

Bair added that the board should not hesitate to make a statement, given its efforts to manage wildlife populations at appropriate levels.

"These horses are so far over objective. If our elk and deer ever got that far over objective, we would not dare come out in public. We would be in serious trouble," he said. "We need to put the heat on the BLM to get these wild horse populations under control."

BLM spokeswoman Megan Crandall acknowledged the growing problem of too many wild horses in Utah, exacerbated by consecutive years of drought.

"It is a convergence of several things," she said. "Some of it is budgetary, some of it is personnel, and a lot of it is our capacity. Our ability to hold gathered horses in the state is limited. We can gather horses, but where do we put them?"

Originally Posted By Salt Lake Tribune