Great Divide Basin Wyoming Planned Removal

Please send in your comments before June, 20, 2011

From the BLM website:

The Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs Field Office launches a 30-day public comment period on an Environmental Assessment to gather excess wild horses from the Great Divide Basin Herd Management Area (HMA).

After the current foaling season, the population estimate will be nearly 1,700 wild horses roaming the Great Divide Basin HMA. The Great Divide Basin Appropriate Management Level (AML) is between 415-600 wild horses. AML is the point at which the herd’s population is consistent with the land’s capacity to support wild horses in balance with other public rangeland uses and resources. The gather is necessary to maintain the wild horse herds within the established AMLs in compliance with the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act and the 2003 Wyoming Consent Decree. The AML for the Great Divide Basin was established through an agreement with private land owners and wild horse advocacy groups, and confirmed in the 1997 Green River Resource Management Plan. The proposed gather is anticipated to begin Fall 2011 to remove approximately 1,225 excess wild horses, may include using fertility control, as well as adjusting sex ratios. The Great Divide Basin HMA was last gathered August 2007. More information is available online at: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rsfo/divide_basin.html.

Public comments are most helpful if they cite specific actions or impacts, and offer supporting information. Comments are requested by June 20, and can be mailed, hand-delivered during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.), or emailed only to the following address:

Great Divide Basin Scoping Comments
BLM Rock Springs Field Office
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, WY 82901
DivideBasin_HMA_WY@blm.gov (Please list “Divide Basin EA Comments” in the subject line.)

Here is a link to a previous Blog post about a group of Great Divide Basin bachelor stallions: https://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/divide-basin-bachelors/

Divide Basin stallion

Click on the image for a larger/sharper view.

Photos are for viewing purposes only. Images are copyright protected and owned solely by Pam Nickoles Photography. No reproduction or downloading permitted. Feel free to share the story/link, but please respect my copyright.

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