| Contacts: | David Boyd, Public Affairs Specialist, (970) 876-9008 |
Wild horse gather southwest of Meeker set to begin Oct. 11
MEEKER, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management is scheduled to begin its gather of about 138 wild horses southwest of Meeker Oct. 11. The gather could last through Oct. 22.
BLM will be gathering the estimated 138 wild horses that have moved outside of the 190,000-acre Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area, which is an area managed specifically for a healthy wild horse herd that is in balance with other uses and resources. None of the estimated 318 wild horses found within this Herd Management Area will be gathered this fall.
This gather will take place in several areas on the Piceance Basin. Visitors to the public lands on the Piceance Basin during this time will likely see gather operations occurring in specific areas. BLM will maintain a website throughout the gather to inform the public about the specific gather locations each day at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo/wrfo_wild_horses/template.html. A recorded message will also be updated at (970) 878-3837 during gather operations.
The majority of the wild horses gathered will be available for adoption through BLM’s wild horse and burro program. The wild horses not adopted will be placed in long-term pastures in the Mid-West.
BLM will not conduct a planned gather this fall to remove about 100 wild horses from the West Douglas area, which is west of State Highway 139 and south of Rangely. That gather was scheduled to begin Oct. 4 with the goal of removing all the wild horses west of Highway 139.
Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 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.
BLM conducts gathers to remove excess wild horses and burros from public lands to help keep the wild horses and rangeland healthy. In addition to the gather to remove wild horses from West Douglas, BLM is planning a gather to check the growth of the Piceance-East Douglas herd in August. This type of gather is conducted about every four years. Gathers were last conducted in these areas in 2006.
BLM manages four Herd Management Areas in western Colorado for wild horse herds: The Piceance-East Douglas 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.
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.
220 East Market St. Meeker, CO 81641