Take Action to Preserve Wyoming’s Wild Horses!
BLM is planning another destructive roundup of Wyoming’s wild horses. This time the agency has set its sights on the Adobe Town and Salt Wells herds in the southwestern sec
tion of the state—some of the largest remaining in the West.
Wild horses in Adobe Town. Photo by Carol Walker
For the second time in three years these two herds would be forced to endure a helicopter stampede. The reason? Livestock. The Rock Springs Grazing Association (RGSA) leases the private and public portions of the checkerboard lands (1 square mile public, 1 square mile private) along the I-80 corridor. RSGA filed a lawsuit last year demanding removal of all the wild horses in the checkerboard lands. This would result in wiping out the vast majority of Wyoming’s wild horses, including many Adobe Town horses and nearly all of the Salt Wells bands.
Yellow indicates BLM land. White indicates private land. Note the checkerboard pattern along I-80.
(BLM map)
The Cloud Foundation, along with American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign and the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, successfully petitioned the court to intervene on behalf of the wild horses in the lawsuit so that they would have a voice in the proceedings.
This new BLM plan to round up Adobe Town and Salt Wells would circumvent the court and wipe out the majority of horses in an area roughly the size of the state of Delaware (1.5 million acres).
Here are the facts:
861-1,165 – the number of horses BLM allows to live in the two herds
1,005 – the number of horses (including foals) BLM counted in the two herds in May 2012
15,000 – the number of cows BLM allows to graze in the two herds annually (equates to 75,000 sheep)
The wild horses have gotten the short end of the stick for a long time. Now BLM aims to remove nearly all of them.
Please take 5 minutes out of your day to help the Adobe Town and Salt Wells wild horses! Demand that BLM not conduct this outrageous roundup.
Below are some bullet points to help you frame your comments.
The Adobe Town and Salt Wells herds are within appropriate management levels (AMLs). Do not count foals toward AML.
BLM should not remove a federally-protected wildlife species from their legal rangelands because of demands from the Rock Springs Grazing Association.
This removal plan is driven by private ranching interests that wish to have all the land for their privately-owned welfare cattle.
Almost the entire Salt Wells herd resides on checkerboard lands. How can eradication of this herd be considered an acceptable management practice?
BLM holding facilities are at capacity, how do you propose to warehouse all these mustangs once they are removed?
Please seek alternatives that do not require a removal of wild horses. Utilize the one-year fertility drug, PZP, on mares one year and older. Manage wild horses on their legal ranges!
Negotiate with ranchers. Livestock graze on public land, not just private. Public lands grazing is a privilege, not a right, and can be taken away.
Comments are due Dec. 7th!
Send to:
AdobeTown_SaltWells_HMA_WY@blm.gov
Or mail to:
Jay D’Ewart, Wild Horse & Burro Specialist
BLM Rock Springs Field Office
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, WY 82901
Fax: (307) 352-0329
for more wild horse info see www.wndwildhorse.com