BLM announced today the signing of a categorical exclusion and decision record authorizing the removal of approximately 75 wild horses from private lands in the Piceance-East Douglas HMA, subject to a 30-day appeal period.
The documents were approved last week but the news release appeared today. It’s not an announcement of a roundup but the intent to round up wild horses.
The operation would be carried out in a grazing allotment at the north end of the HMA and probably wouldn’t be open to public observation due to the method of capture.
The HMA covers 190,130 acres in western Colorado and has an AML of 235, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 1.2 horses per thousand acres.
The number of allotments intersecting the HMA and the amount of forage allocated to livestock are not known.
The current wild horse population in and around the HMA is approximately 1,200.
