Wild Horses: The Proposed Destruction of the Sand Wash Basin Herd
June 21, 2014Wild Horses: Press Release – BLM Poised to Eradicate Last Large Wyoming Wild Horse Herds
July 23, 2014Wild Horses: BLM Releases 2014 Roundup Schedule Devastating to Red Desert Wild Horses
Mares rounded up in Salt Wells Creek in December 2013
The BLM has finally released its roundup schedule for 2014:
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/herd_management/tentative_gather_schedule.html
On this schedule are three roundups in Wyoming:
Adobe Town 8/20 – 8/24, plan to remove 177 wild horses
Salt Wells Creek 8/24 – 8-28, plan to remove 228 wild horses
Great Divide Basin 8/28 – 9/10, plan to remove 541 wild horses
This is despite having just rounded up and removed 586 wild horses from Salt Wells Creek and Adobe Town in December 2013.
Looking at the numbers provided by the BLM, Great Divide Basin will be virtually zeroed out after this roundup and removal. The AML for the area is 415-600 wild horses. At their May 2013 count they said there were 439 horses and they estimated that there would be 579 in the summer of 2014. Removing 541 would be almost all, if not all, of them.
In Salt Wells Creek, the AML is 251-365. In their projected estimate before the 2013 roundup the BLM said there were 823 wild horses, they removed 586, and they plan to remove 228. Even estimating a 20% population increase this year, this would bring the population below low AML.
In Adobe Town, the AML is 610-800 wild horses. The BLM projected the population to be 624 in 2013, they removed 14 in 2013 and they plan to remove 177, Even estimating a 20% increase in population this year, this would bring the population below low AML.
Currently, the Resource Management Plans for both the Rock Springs and Rawlins Areas are being revised. It is during the Resource Management Revision process that AML can be changed for herd management areas and herd management areas can be changed to herd areas, allowing them to be zeroed out. This process has NOT happened yet.
The BLM is acting precipitously, working to zero out Great Divide Basin and bringing Salt Wells Creek and Adobe Town below low AML before the RMP can be completed. Clearly, appeasing the Rock Springs Grazing Association is an “emergency” just like drought to the BLM. Despite lamenting the high cost of holding 50,000 wild horses in captivity (46 million dollars annually) in this roundup document, the BLM is determined to remove 2400 wild horses from their families and their homes this year.
There has been a scoping document issued for Great Divide Basin and it is here:
http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/news_room/2013/december/10rsfo-gather.html
Environmental Assessments for the roundups of the three herd management areas in Wyoming have NOT been issued or made available to the public for comment yet.
Please check back to see when these will be available for comment.
8 Comments
Carol – if I just read correctly, the BLM can reassign land areas from HMAs to HAs and thus remove the protection of the HMA from the wild horses…. although I am not as well educated about this as you, if I were to understand the original protection decree correctly, where they are originally found they are to be protected – so is this the governments way of tossing that out the window?
Thanks!
Angelique
Yes Angelique that is exactly it – the BLM changes an HMA to and HA and then zeroes out the herd – this has been done in over 100 herd areas. They did not even wait to change the Resource Management Plan for Rock Springs and Rawlins however in this case.
[…] By Carol Walker ~ Director of Field Documentation for Wild Horse Freedom Federation as published on Wild Hoofbeats […]
The current proceedings to be completed by the BLM will ensure that the Wild herds will be severely depleted. I am personally at the point of there being no hope of being able to save our Nations Mustangs; when does this stop! There is no concern by the BLM or caring of what the majority of what the tax payers really want…nor is there any real listening for suggestions that were presented years ago to properly manage the herds viability’s. Thank-you for all you do, please keep us updated.God Bless America, home of the free.
hi carol, this cindy mendoza , i love the hard work you do and you are my champion as well are r.t. and debbie c. and all the other advocates that are able to get around to help our wild horses, our brothers and sisters in spirit. i hate that i’m so disabled as i have always fought for animal right in my little corner of the world . i just wanted to let you know , i am at your service in any way i am able to be . and express my sympathy at the loss of a friend in tx. my prayers are with you
Once they get them all off the range, you know where they’ll send em don’t uh you…Canadian slaughter houses.
NOOOOOOoOooOOOOOOOoOOOOooooOOOOOOoooooooo! Yes, please do let us know when these will be available for comment. I have a few sharp pointy words to impart.
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