The incident was scheduled for late August but will begin on June 16 due to the poor condition of some animals, according to today’s news release.
Initially, horses will be captured by traps baited with food and water, with the remaining animals forced into the traps by helicopter starting on July 15.
The HMA covers 190,130 total acres in western Colorado, including 158,310 public acres managed by the BLM. The AML is 235 and the stocking rate allowed by plan is 1.2 wild horses per thousand acres.
The current population is thought to be 1,385, six times higher than the bureaucrats and ranchers are willing to tolerate.
The HMA intersects four grazing allotments. Livestock receive 2.4 times more forage than the horses, one of the milder cases of wild horse mismanagement.
Captured animals will be taken to an unspecified holding facility in Utah.
A link to the gather stats and daily reports was not provided.
The HMA is subject to the Montana Solution according to the roundup schedule.
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Western Horse Watchers Association 