BLM to Remove Over 800 Wild Horses in Southern Wyoming
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is set to remove between 800 and 900 wild horses from the checkerboard lands in the Great Divide Basin and the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek herd management areas in south-central Wyoming. This action is in response to requests from private landowners in the checkerboard area, which follows the path of the transcontinental railroad in southern Wyoming.
In 1862, Congress granted every other section of land within 20 miles of the railroad to Union Pacific, resulting in a complex mix of unfenced public and private grazing lands where wild horses roam freely.
The Rock Springs Grazing Association sued for the removal of horses from private checkerboard lands in a 2013 case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. The court ruled in favor of private landowners, allowing the removal of horses from these lands.
“This gather is a compliance action for the 2013 consent decree that was a result of that case,” said Kimberlee Foster, Rock Springs BLM field manager. “We have to remove all horses from checkerboard lands. That is what we’re complying with.”
The grazing association controls more than 731,700 acres in the checkerboard region of southern Wyoming. Association representatives declined to comment for this story.
At a recent news conference, Gov. Matt Mead stated that Wyoming is considering legal action to compel the BLM to manage populations in the herd management areas. He expressed concerns about the high wild horse populations affecting livestock and sage grouse in the area.
“We are right now looking at legal action to force them to get those numbers under control because when you have wild horses competing with livestock, when you have wild horses competing for range ground that impacts sage grouse, you have keen interest by the state of Wyoming,” Mead said. “So it’s appropriate they have that roundup. But we think they need to do more in individual herd management areas than they have been doing.”
Private landowners have voiced concerns to the BLM about the increasing number of wild horses on private lands, which they claim is degrading the range’s ability to sustain livestock.
“For the most part, it’s an unfenced area,” Foster said. “That makes management of the wild horse herd in particular very challenging.”
Wild horse advocates argue that the move disregards the BLM’s responsibility to protect the horses from grazing pressures.
Suzanne Roy, director of American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation), said the action will destroy a publicly cherished herd of mustangs in Wyoming. “The BLM is legally mandated to protect and preserve wild horses, while livestock grazing occurs on our public lands entirely at the discretion of the government,” Roy said. “What’s happening in Wyoming is a perversion of both the law and the public trust.”
The roundup is scheduled to begin on August 20. After gathering, the horses will enter the wild horse and burro adoption program. Horses not immediately suitable for adoption will be transported to holding facilities across the U.S. for long-term care.
The horses are examined by a veterinarian and vaccinated before entering the program. The process can take up to three months, with adoption following up to 120 days after the horses enter the program.
Jay D’Ewart, a wild horse and burro specialist for the BLM, noted that this gather is not the typical herd management action. Instead of administering birth control drugs or adjusting populations, the BLM is gathering the horses for removal from the area.
Originally Posted By Star-Tribune