After seemingly grinding to a halt, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced proposals for gathering several thousand wild horses in Wyoming.
In Nevada, state lawmakers are considering a resolution urging Congress to provide funding to reduce the levels of wild horses and burros to appropriate management levels.
Wyoming
The agency announced it was seeking public comments through the end of April on two separate gathers in Wyoming.
BLM is proposing to remove approximately 3,500 horses in five herd management areas (HMAs) located in the southwestern part of the state just outside Rock Springs. According to the BLM, about 5,105 wild horses live within the Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek, Great Divide Basin, White Mountain, and Little Colorado HMAs. The appropriate management level (AML)—the point the wild horse population is consistent with the rangeland’s capacity—is between 1,550-2,165 horses.
A public scoping period was held in November 2019 on the proposed gather and BLM determined several issues needed further review. Under the preferred alternative by BLM, most horses will be permanently removed and either adopted or placed in long-term holding pens. A small percentage will be given birth control of either immunocontraceptives or intrauterine devices and some studs would be returned to the HMAs.
Wild horse advocates argue the problem is “public-lands ranching,” and the current population is within the “true AML,” so there is no need for roundups. Kaitlynn Glover, executive director of natural resources for National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and executive director of Public Lands Council, argued contrarily, saying in a statement, “To call this gather anything but progress toward restoring range conditions that can sustain horses, wildlife, and livestock would be disingenuous.”
The gather could occur as soon as July and be either completed by the end of this year or occur over several years with horses outside the HMA.
Comments can be submitted at BLM’s eplanning website using NEPA # DOI-BLM-WY-D040-2020-0005-EA through April 30.
Separately, BLM is seeking comments to develop an environmental assessment on four HMAs encompassing 375,000 acres in east-central Fremont County, north of Jeffrey City. The North Lander Complex is made up of the Conant Creek, Dishpan Butte, Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek Mountain HMAs. The complex’s AML is 320-536 horses and BLM estimates that there are more than 1,600 horses in the complex.
The BLM’s assessment will include various alternatives for gathering and implementing population control measures. Comments to the BLM should be submitted by April 30 and may be emailed to BLM_WY_North_Lander_Gather@blm.gov or mailed to Wild Horse Specialist, BLM Lander Field Office, 1335 Main Street, Lander, WY 82401.
Nevada
Nevada lawmakers heard arguments in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources in late March for Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 3, urging the U.S. Congress to implement and fund BLM’s recommendations to control the wild horse and burro populations.
Under a report titled The Path Forward for Management of BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros, the recommendations were put forth to the Senate in 2019 as a collaboration between animal rights groups, government agencies, and agriculture groups.
The coalition agreed to four main points that would “eventually release the BLM from the costly cycle of roundups and holdings while reducing the number of horses and burros on the range and making progress towards the agency determined AML.” The points included increasing the number of animals gathered, cost-effective pasture facilities with public and private collaboration, promoting adoption, and applying birth control to every herd.
The plan called for the roundup of between 15,000-20,000 animals for the first three years and reducing the number “to 5,000-10,000 per year for the remainder of the proposed term as fertility control takes effect.”
Western Watersheds Project Executive Director Erik Molvar testified in opposition to the resolution, stating when comparing animal unit months of both horses and livestock, there was “14.8 times as many cattle use on western public lands as wild horse use.”
“Now, if wild horses were the real ecological problem in the American West, Western Watersheds Project would be having them as a priority to address,” Molvar said at the testimony.
Wild horse advocates called the proposed roundups “band-aid” solutions and argued for the use of fertility control methods such as Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP). Greg Hendricks, director of field operations for the American Wild Horse Campaign, argued fertility control is cheaper than the alternative of holding horses in holding facilities.
“Historically, the price of a horse going into the BLM system after it’s gathered can run up to $50,000 of taxpayer money, whereas a shot of PZP costs $35,” said Hendricks.
However, the report states more than 90 percent of mares, both gathered for holding and released, need to be treated to be effective, which some proponents question if it could be done on a large scale.
The Sierra Club Toiyabe chapter supports SJR3, citing the overpopulation of wild horses and burros, and that the animals have “impacted ecosystem health, habitat, forage, and water resources; in turn imperiling the health and well-being of wildlife, vegetation, and native ecosystems, as well as the horses and burros themselves.”
The resolution passed the committee on April 1 and moved to the state Senate for a vote. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
