BLM Partners with the University of Wyoming to Study Wild Horse Movement in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area
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BLM released its decision to gather and collar up to 30 wild mares within the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (ATHMA) as part of collaboration with the University of Wyoming to study wild horses.
Radio collars will be placed on the wild horses in order to learn more about seasonal use, migration patterns, and herd movements in the area. No wild horses will be removed from the ATHMA as part of this effort.
After December 9, wild horses will be gathered by bait-trapping, and up to 30 mares will be collared and returned to the ATHMA. After February 10, 2017, helicopter drive trapping may take place to finish the project before the annual foaling season starts on March 1 and runs through June 30, 2017.
The University of Wyoming requested this action to study how the wild horses in ATHMA interact with their surrounding environment. It will also provide BLM with new information so there are healthy wild horses living on healthy rangelands.
The Decision Record, Finding of No Significant Impact, and Environmental Assessment along with project maps can be found at http://bit.ly/2dNiwrQ.
“The use of GPS collars on the Adobe Town mares will provide us with insight on how these horses move into, though, and across the public-private land matrix, how horses select rangelands resources across seasons, and how porous or not-porous the Colorado-Wyoming border really is for horses,” said Derek Scasta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Extension Rangeland Specialist, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming. “Our experience with USGS researchers shows that these collars can be safely used on horses with a very low risk of injury.”
For more information, please contact the BLM wild horse specialist at 307-328-4311.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.