Emergency Removal Begins (Idaho)

By Laura Leigh on August 25, 2024

Sands Basin April 2024

Two weeks ago we alerted you to fires in Idaho.The Paddock Fire engulfed the entire Four Mile HMA. The Jump fire hit the Sands Basin HMA hard.

Edited, 8/27. The operation has begun and we have reports from the field that 40-50 Four Mile wild horses have been captured and the operation is moving to Sands Basin. We will update soon with official numbers and BLM plans for release as soon as they are available.

Four Mile HMA in purple inside the Paddock fire boundary.

The 11,724-acre Sands Basin HMA is near Marsing, and there are approximately 40 wild horses BLM will target for capture. Sands Basin was rounded up in 2023 and BLM reached the target goal of Appropriate Management Level (AML) for this HMA is 33-64 wild horses.

Four Mile roundup

The Four Mile HMA north of Emmett encompasses about 18,800 acres. There are roughly 52 wild horses in the HMA after the 2021 roundup that pushed the population to low end of the AML for this HMA of 37-60 wild horses.

BLM has decided to do an emergency removal due to the lack of feed left on the range. So far, there has been no sighted loss of wild horses due to either fire. WHE did offer to assist with feed drops, but BLM said assessments show that the feed issue will not resolve until at least next year and the winter months are fast approaching.

Release at Black Mountain (Idaho) after 2023 roundup. BLM did not allow observation of the release into the other HMAs in the complex.

BLM will hold horses for return to the range. BLM said in the press release: “The wild horses will be temporarily housed at the BLM Boise Wild Horse Off-Range Corral, then cared for at the Bruneau Wild Horse Off-Range Corral. The wild horses will be returned to the public rangelands in both the Sands Basin and Four Mile HMAs once the rangelands have recovered.”

A number of our readers will remember the wild horses found dead during the Soda Fire in Idaho. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) opened a gate so horses, and other wildlife, could leave the area. However during a fast moving wildfire most animals are not going to instinctively move toward a gate that is always closed. In 2015 BLM removed 285 horses in the aftermath of the fire. In 2018, BLM released 26 wild horses back into Sands Basin.

BLM will not permit observation at either emergency operation in 2024.

We will report as we are able during the roundup and try to track horses in facilities.

Our team is working hard to bring you up-to-date reporting from the field, outreach to educate Congress and on litigation. Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline running for our wild ones.