Colorado seeks to reduce feral horse numbers as deer habitat crashes

Now that Tracy Stone-Manning is Director of the Bureau of Land Management within the Department of Interior after calling nearly every Trump era ruling illegal she is tasked with managing landscape outcomes on some 245 million acres mostly in the Mountain West where much of it is being ravaged by herds of feral horses.

“The BLM is committed to the safety of the wild horses and burros entrusted to our care. Our gather efforts, handling standards, and fertility control work are guided by our compassion for these animals and our desire to protect their well-being, as well as the health of our public lands.” The BLM says that if herds aren’t managed, they typically grow 20% annually, doubling in size every four years. It says its fertility control treatment goal for the year is nearly the double the record of 1,160 treatments of horses and burros, set last year. Callie Hendrickson, executive director of the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts, said the district supports the BLM Piceance-East Douglas plan. ”I’ve been saying that this crash is coming, and I’m afraid we’re here,” she said. [BLM looks to remove 750 horses from area herd]

Just 3 percent of the Earth's surface remains untouched by human development and a sixth mass extinction is underway. Putting the country on the path of protecting at least 30 percent of its land and 30 percent of its ocean areas by 2030 (30x30) is imperative to preserving public lands. Moving the US Forest Service from the US Department of Agriculture into the Department of Interior, even merging the Forest Service and BLM would be just one step toward rewilding the West.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is seeking public comment on local mule deer and elk herd management plans that propose reduced population objectives for deer and reflect habitat changes over the years that include fire and persistent drought. “Like most mule deer herds in the western U.S., the Bookcliffs deer population has declined since then and stagnated at a much smaller size,” the draft plan says. The Bureau of Land Management last year removed more than 400 wild horses from the West Douglas wild horse area, which is in the Bookcliffs deer herd area. The Bureau of Land Management doesn’t consider West Douglas to be an appropriate area for wild horses due to range conditions and terrain factors. [Draft management plans reflect falling deer numbers]

States are scrambling to preserve habitat for bison, wapiti, bighorn sheep, pronghorns, deer, the greater sage grouse and all the other wildlife at risk to the GOP but how are public pastures for feral horses and burros either conservative or sustainable?

ip photo: the Kewa Pueblo has adopted some more BLM mustangs so I filled the water tank at the casita hoping to capture some images in the trail cam!