Salt Wells, taken this week

Today, May 29, BLM has finalized the gather plan that includes removal of all wild horses in Great Divide Basin and Salt Wells Creek HMAs and a large portion of the Adobe Town HMA in Wyoming. Final Gather EA HERE.

The area is on the gather schedule to permanently remove 3,624 wild horses beginning in July. BLM says this number represents the estimated 2,755 in the areas to be zeroed out and the number over the revised Appropriate Management Level (AML) in Adobe town of 259 – 536 (low AML) would be the target for this summers removal operation. BLM says due to the size of the area the operation to “zero out” will involve both helicopter drive trapping and bait trapping over multiple years.

At the end of March, BLM initiated a public comment period on the draft plan. At that time the operation on the schedule was tiered to the old Gather-EA (and could have moved forward as a capture operation to obtain the old AML, no “zero out”). Now that the new EA has been finalized, the old EA is no longer valid and is replaced by the one formalized today. The BLM relies heavily on the 2023 Resource Management Plan in responses to public comments. That plan is awaiting a ruling in the Tenth Circuit Court. (Note: A gather using the old EAs would not have been impacted by a ruling. Now that the new EA has been finalized, any roundup needs to be done tiered to the new one, the old one no longer valid.)

Instead of doing a “comment-by-comment breakdown” (the usual approach), BLM has done a summary.  You can see the BLM response to public comments HERE.

Finalization of the EA begins the Appeal period. The Appeal period will expire in 30 days. The roundup begins in 47 days.

You can find the entire Gather-EA and all supporting documents HERE.

Our team is reading the Final carefully and will update after review.

It is important to remember that this plan is not about “can the range sustain them,” because it can. This is about “checkerboard land” (where every square mile alternative from private to public property). The HMA boundaries that were established in the late 70s and 80s, came with an “agreement” with livestock permittees. In 2013, the permittees filed a lawsuit claiming they could rescind the agreement. BLM settled the suit and then changed the land use plan to zero out the area of wild horses and finalized the new boundaries in 2023 (there is active litigation against the change).

Salt Wells, taken this week

Comment periods are open for the draft Blue Wing Complex HMAP and Scoping for an HMAP at Silver King. These are two areas where there is underlying litigation. You can find more info HERE. 

Our independent welfare team is gearing up. Our team is deep in the long battle to obtain a concise and enforceable welfare policy. Our litigation drove the creation of the draft policy. Now we are pushing through litigation and in the halls of Congress to gain the final steps toward a policy with real rules and real consequence.

May is Wildfire Awareness Month. Issues surrounding wildfire point directly to the fact that the current welfare standards to not even include basic Veterinary recommendations on Air Quality and Heat Index. You can learn more and help us to protect wild horses and burros from preventable injury and death. Click HERE. 

 Take action to gain a concise and enforceable welfare policy?

Send a letter to your representatives. Just click HERE. 

All of our work is only possible with your support. 

Your support keeps our teams in the field, our investigations running and our litigation alive. Together, we will take a strong stand to defend our precious wild ones.