Comments must be submitted by Dec. 20, 2019
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is once again targeting wild horses in the Wyoming Checkerboard. The agency is accepting public comments through December 20, 2019 on a Scoping Notice for yet another roundup of the Adobe Town, Great Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, Little Colorado, and White Mountain Herd Management Areas (HMAs). However, this time they are also considering some troubling fertility control alternatives as well.
The BLM estimates that 4,252 wild horses live on the roughly 3.5 million acres of public and private lands in the Checkerboard, which is in the southern part of Wyoming. Yet, the BLM has set Appropriate Management Level (AMLs) of just 1,550 - 2,145 horses. Even at the current population, that translates into one wild horse per 2,229 acres! The land in this area is a mix of public and private, yet BLM is allowing private landowners to dictate how many horses will be allowed to live in this area.
This Proposed Action would remove 2,702 wild horses in order to achieve the low AML of 1,550 wild horses. The BLM is even considering the use of surgical sterilization procedures as a management tool. This is all part of a lengthy plan to wipe out wild horses from this area in order to appease ranching interests that view these animals as competition for their cheap, taxpayer-subsidized livestock grazing on our public lands.
Since 2014, AWHC and our coalition partners have consistently sued, and won, to stop the BLM from removing hundreds of horses from this area. Now it's time again to stand up for Wyoming's wild horses. Please personalize and submit the sample letter below to weigh in against another BLM roundup of these federally-protected wild horses from public and private lands in the Wyoming Checkerboard.