After capture.
July 15, 2026, BLM’s Jarbidge Field Office in Idaho began flying a helicopter over the Saylor Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) in Idaho, 15 miles south of Glenns Ferry.
Today, July 15, BLM captured 103 (52 Stallions, 40 Mares, and 11 Foals). The roundup is over.
Wild horses have been shipped to the Boise corral. BLM has said an official viewing at the corrals this Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon.
The BLM has not confirmed numbers or dates for the release of mares treated with GonaCon.
The stated plan: gather roughly 100 of an estimated 118 wild horses, permanently remove about 68, treat approximately 16 mares with the GonaCon-Equine fertility control vaccine, and release those mares back with an equal number of studs — a 50:50 sex ratio — for an end population of 50, the HMA’s Appropriate Management Level (BLM announcement, July 1, 2026)
BLM calls this a routine “achieve AML gather.” This is a “get to AML and apply fertility control” operation. BLM has run that exact cycle at Saylor Creek only one time before — in 2020 — and both the 2020 and 2026 operations rest on a single 2019 Environmental Assessment.
BLM should have done a new analysis and not relied on the old.
The “gather schedule” dated May 15, 2026 said BLM would capture 150 and release 22 with fertility control (FY2026 National Gather Schedule). After BLM actually flew a direct population survey in May, the agency stated the entire estimated population — foals included — is 118 (BLM announcement). The capture goal dropped from 150 to about 100.
That gap between 150 and 118 is roughly a 24% swing — and it lands in exactly the direction BLM’s numbers always seem to land, padded upward. BLM acknowledges a recognized survey error rate near this figure, yet in our experience the agency never treats itself as potentially 22% under a true count. The estimate is always padded over, and the padding here includes foals not yet born and foals that have not yet proven they will survive their first season. (Read our full report on the “BLM Population Statistics” HERE)
This matters at Saylor Creek because the “Appropriate Management Level” of 50 sits far below any accepted standard for genetic viability (BLMs own geneticist recommends roughly 150 breeding adults minimum). Every horse counted “over AML” on paper becomes a horse hauled to the Boise Off-Range Corrals in practice.
The captives are being transferred to the Boise Off-Range Wild Horse Corrals. They will be prepped for the adoption and sale program.
The Sale Program has been landing wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline. Learn more and join the call for an audit of the Sale Program.
We need your support to keep our teams engaging lawmakers, our team fighting in the court, our team ready to run the roundup schedule.
Every mile we travel to cover roundups or assess a herd, every court case we bring, every win, every action we take is only possible because of your support.
Categories: Wild Horse Education
You must be logged in to post a comment.