ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (AP) - The federal Bureau of Land Management is holding a public comment period concerning a draft resource management plan for wild horses in southwest Wyoming that could lead to the removal of 74% of the wild horses in four herd management areas.
The plan would include all the horses in the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop area, The Rocket-Miner reported.
A plan amendment would also update wild horse management strategies in the White Mountain, Great Divide Basin, Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek herd management areas, encompassing 4,393 square miles (11,378 square kilometers) of a checkerboard pattern of public and private land.
Four alternatives are under consideration in the draft. The preferred option listed in the draft calls for all checkerboard land to be removed from herd management areas and revert to herd area status.
All wild horses would be removed from the White Mountain, Great Divide Basin and Salt Wells Creek herd areas. A portion of Adobe Town would be the only area to include herd management.
“Members of the public seeking wild horse viewing opportunities would still be able to view wild horses within the planning area; however, there would be fewer wild horses overall, and opportunities to view wild horses would be reduced,” the draft plan said.
The preferred alternative was selected based on analysis of results from the bureau’s draft environmental impact statement, the agency said.
The bureau’s High Desert District is also holding a public comment period for an associated draft environmental impact statement.The public comment period is scheduled to be closed April 30.
After the public comment period, the bureau will use feedback to prepare a final environmental impact statement. The process could take several months, field office manager Kimberlee Foster said.
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