| Contacts: | David Boyd, Public Affairs Specialist, (970) 876-9008 |
Wild horses available for adoption at open house Saturday (09-07-10)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Five yearling wild horses and four burros from the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program will be available for adoption this weekend at an open house for the non-profit group Friends of the Mustangs.
BLM partners with Friends of the Mustangs to manage the Little Book Cliffs wild horse herd east of Grand Junction. Volunteers from Friends of the Mustangs have halter-trained the horses that will be available for adoption.
The open house will be held Saturday, Sept. 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sheriff Posse Grounds, 25 and F 1/2 roads. The adoption will begin at noon.
“We appreciate the Friends of the Mustangs efforts at the open house to show the public that wild horses are trainable and useful horses,” said BLM Wild Horse Specialist Jim Dollerschell.
The Little Books Cliff herd is one of four herd management areas that BLM maintains in western Colorado. Without any natural predators to effectively control wild horse numbers, populations in each herd typically double every four years. To keep wild horse populations and their rangelands healthy, BLM conducts round-ups of wild horses about every four years. Wild horses removed from the range are placed in BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program.
“Finding good homes for wild horses removed from the range is an important part of maintaining healthy populations in the wild,” Dollerschell said.
The adoption will take place through a silent auction, with bids beginning at $125.
Since 1971, more than 224,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted through BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program. For more information about adopting a wild horse or burro, log on to www.blm.gov.
The BLM manages more land - over 245 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. 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.
2815 H Road Grand Junction, CO 81506