Oppose BLM Wyoming Wild Horse Roundup: Act by May 7

The BLM’s Rock Springs Field Office proposal to roundup an unspecified number (in excess of 169) wild horses in two Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming. Read on to take action. Also submit comments to help California wild horses here.

Once again, the agency has set arbitrarily low Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) for wild horses:

• Little Colorado HMA - over 500,000 acres — only 69 to 100 wild horses allowed. (Current population estimate 142)
• White Mountain HMA — 392,649 acres — only 205 to 300 wild horses allowed. (Current population estimate 300.)

Meanwhile, domestic cattle and sheep are allowed to graze in these areas during the summer and winter.

The BLM plans to commence the roundup either in October 2010, or after foaling season in February 2011, continuing the unsustainable cycle of roundups and removals every few years. Meanwhile, progress toward sustainable on-the-range management — including limitations on livestock grazing, water and other range improvements, and fertility control measures where necessary — are absent once again from the BLM’s plans.

Please submit your comments by May 7 to oppose these additional unnecessary wild horse roundups. Please personalize, cut and paste the draft letter below and send it to the emails listed here. [Use the exact subject line provided below so that your comments will be counted.]

TO:
WhiteMountain_LittleColorado_HMA_WY@blm.gov, Chair@ceq.eop.gov, Lance_Porter@blm.gov, Jay_d’ewart@blm.gov

Subject line: “White Mountain & Little Colorado Scoping Comments”

To Whom It May Concern:

I write to oppose the plan by the Rock Springs Field Office to roundup wild horses from the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming.

The April 9, 2010 scoping letter claims that a May 2009 census found that the White Mountain HMA was over the “Appropriate Management Level” (AML) of 205-300 horses by just one horse and that the Little Colorado HMA, was over its AML of 69-100 by only 42 horses. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been found repeatedly to arbitrarily set Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) for wild horses. The BLM’s contention that more than 900,000 acres in the two HMAs can only sustain approximately 400 horses is questionable at best.

The proposed removal of wild horses and burros from the White Mountain and Little Colorado HMAs and the warehousing of these animals in government holding facilities violates the intent of Congress and the will of the American people that our wild horses be managed on the range in a humane and minimally-intrusive manner that preserves their wild and free-roaming behavior.

As a result, I urge the field offices to consider the following measures to improve management of the wild horses in the White Mountain and Little Colorado HMAs:

• Re-evaluate and increase the AML for wild horses for this 900,000-acre area;
• Utilize the BLM’s discretion under 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a) to close or limit livestock grazing in the HMAs and/or or designate this area to be managed principally for wild horse herds under 43 C.F.R. 4710.3-2;
• Offer ranchers grazing livestock in the HMAs the option to retire cattle grazing allotments or convert cattle grazing allotments to wild horse allotments to promote ecotourism activities;
• Implement and expand the current proposal of fertility control treatments to allow more horses to remain on the range;
• Implement range improvements and water enhancements that will benefit all animals, including wildlife and horses, living in the HMAs.

Further, any Environmental Assessment conducted for this roundup plan must include objective evaluation of the above-mentioned items, as well as a detailed economic analysis of the long- and short-term costs associated with the roundup, removal and warehousing of these horses, and a full consideration of the impacts of roundup, removal and warehousing on the horses taken from the range as well as those remnants of horses left behind.

Please use this opportunity to implement a humane and progressive management program for the White Mountain and Little Colorado mustangs and reject the plan to massively round up and warehouse these majestic free-roaming animals.

Sincerely,