The incident will begin on September 14, according to the news release. The rationale is too many animals, not inadequate food and water.
Helicopters will push the horses into the traps and the operation will be open to public observation.
The capture goal is 189 and the removal goal is 173. Mares returned to the HMA will be treated with GonaCon.
The HMA covers 18,800 acres in western Idaho and has an AML of 60. The aimed-at stocking rate is 3.2 wild horses per thousand acres. The target rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.
The pre-gather population of 210 includes 150 horses not allowed by plan, sometimes referred to as ‘excess animals.’
Section 3.4.1 in the 2020 Final EA for resource enforcement actions states that the HMA is fully fenced and encompasses three of the ten pastures in the Willow Ridge Allotment, but does not disclose the AUMs assigned to livestock in those pastures.
Table 4 shows the grazing schedule and Map 1 in Appendix A shows the arrangement.
The Allotment Master report puts Willow Ridge in the Improve category.
The EA was posted with other project documents in ePlanning.
Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Boise.
Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.
Western Horse Watchers Association 