Privately owned livestock receive 2.4 times as much forage as wild horses and consume it in one tenth of the time.
The stocking rate allowed by plan for cattle is 23 times higher than that for the horses.
A similar pattern was seen at the Challis HMA in Idaho.
Piceance has numerous oil and gas wells dating back to the 1950s, according to the discussion on page 82 of an EA from 2011. BLM has photographs of horses napping on well pads during a busy day of industry work and traffic.
The EA did not indicate how many wild horses have been shot dead or rounded up and taken to rendering plants at the behest of oil companies.
