The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comments on a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) for the Warm Springs Herd Management Area (HMA) in Oregon. The Northern boundary of the HMA is 20 miles southwest of Burns, encompasses nearly 500,000 acres. Last year, the BLM rounded up and removed 846 wild horses and 41 burros -- or nearly 100 percent of the population -- from the Warm Springs HMA.
Of the horses removed, 100 mares were slated to be used in controversial experimental surgical sterilization experiments. Those experiments were blocked after a federal court issued a Preliminary Injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by AWHC, the Cloud Foundation and the Animal Welfare Institute. The BLM then dropped the study portion of their plans altogether and released its new plan regarding the horses who were removed from the HMA and are currently being held in the Hines Corrals.
That plan includes the return of just 66 horses to the range to meet the low Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 96 horses. No burros will be returned to the range. (The agency estimates that 30 horses and 30 burros remained in the HMA after the roundup.) This will leave an astounding 1 horse per 5,000 acres and 1 burro per 17,000 acres in this expansive public lands area!
Bottom line: The BLM plan is releasing too few horses to maintain a healthy, genetically viable population. The BLM must revise this plan to increase the number of wild horses that it will return to the range, and manage those horses over the long-term with PZP fertility control. Further, any plans that the BLM develops to manage the horses for the long-term must undergo a separate environmental analysis and public comment process.
The BLM is accepting public comments but declining to provide an email to submit comments. Instead, they are directing comments to this E-Planning site. We encourage you to submit comments directly there, and also take one moment to sign our petition below.
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Dear Project Lead,
As a taxpayer who is concerned about our nation's wild horses and burros, I am very concerned about the Bureau of Land Management's proposed Determination of NEPA Adequacy and short-term plan for the horses of the Warm Springs Herd Management Area, as described in DOI-BLM-ORWA-B050-2019-0009-
The BLM's roundup in Warm Springs removed nearly 100 percent of the federally-protected wild horses living in this public land area. The plan to return just 66 of the 846 wild horses to reach the low "Appropriate" Management Level (AML) of 96 horses will result in one horse per 5,000 acres in Warm Springs HMA -- an absurdly low number of horses that is grossly insufficient to maintain the genetic health of this herd.
The BLM should alter this plan to return enough horses to maintain the Warm Springs herd with at least 150-200 adult animals in order to maintain the genetic viability of these unique mustangs. Further the BLM should utilize fertility control to reduce population growth rates as necessary to minimize the future costly and cruel removal of wild horses from their homes in the Warm Springs HMA. Any removals that do take place should be incremental in smaller numbers over time to allow for a stable population, increase the chances of horses being adopted, and minimize the burden to taxpayers of warehousing horses in holding facilities.
Finally, this DNA is, at best, a short-term management plan for the Warm Springs wild horses and burros. The BLM must ensure that any long-term management plan is analyzed through a separate NEPA process, including a full review of alternatives and a new opportunity for public comment.
Thank you for the consideration,
The Undersigned