| Contacts: | Steven Hall, 303-239-3672 | |||
| Vanessa Delgado, 303-239-3681 |
BLM begins preparing gathered wild horses for adoption
Canon City, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Canon City Wild Horse Facility reports the majority of wild horses gathered southwest of Meeker this month are healthy, calm and easy to work. The facility continues to prepare the horses for adoption or long-term pastures.
BLM gathered 73 wild horses Oct. 11 – Oct. 22 during the Piceance-East Douglas gather southwest of Meeker. The last group of gathered horses arrived in Canon City on Saturday. Once they arrive at Canon City, horses are examined, aged, branded, tagged, vaccinated and given any other necessary medical treatment.
BLM works with independent veterinarians throughout the gather process to provide care for wild horses when they are gathered.
Three wild horses arrived from the gather with minor cuts that required treatment. All are doing fine. Three other wild horses from the gather were euthanized Wednesday based on the recommendation of a veterinarian and in accordance with BLM’s euthanasia policy. The horses suffered from pre-existing conditions not associated with the BLM gather.
“The decision to euthanize a horse is never an easy one,” said Fran Ackley, BLM Colorado’s State Wild Horse Lead. “The decision is based on the recommendation of an independent veterinarian and with the best interests of the horse in mind.”
Reports from the veterinarian are available at www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo.html. The horses euthanized were a 25-year-old gray stud blind in one eye, a yearling bay stud with a leg deformity, and a weanling bay colt with a leg deformity. These horse’s health conditions were not associated with the BLM’s gather operations.
The Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area is a 190,000-acre area southwest of Meeker that is managed for a healthy wild horse herd in balance with other resources and uses. The BLM did not gather any of the estimated 318 wild horses currently within the Herd Management Area.
Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the BLM manages, protects, and controls wild horses and burros as part of its overall multiple-use mission. The Bureau works to ensure that population levels are in balance with rangeland resources and other uses of the public lands. Wild horses have virtually no predators and can double in population about every four years if not managed.
The BLM manages four wild horse Herd Management Areas in western Colorado: The Piceance-East Douglas Herd west of Meeker, the Little Bookcliffs Herd northeast of Grand Junction, the Sand Wash Herd west of Craig, and the Spring Creek Herd southwest of Montrose.
The BLM encourages those who are interested in providing good homes to wild horses or burros to visit http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html for information about adoptions or sales.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
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