The Decision Record signed on July 20 authorizes Alternative B, the Proposed Action, which will establish Herd Management Areas Plans (HMAPs) for the Black Mountain, Hardtrigger and Sands Basin HMAs in western Idaho.
These plans would achieve and maintain AMLs through roundups, fertility control treatments, selective horse removals and periodic introduction of fertile animals from other HMAs to boost genetic diversity.
AMLs are small relative to the available resources because most of the food and water in areas identified for wild horses have been assigned to privately owned cattle and sheep.
But when you see the introduction of animals from other areas, you know the bureaucrats have cut the herds and breeding populations to the bone, a further concession to the public-lands ranchers.
How will the new HMAPs make life better for the horses?
Contrary to what the advocates have been telling you, they won’t.
HMAPs must conform to the land-use plans.
Herd sizes will be minimized, ranchers will receive the lion’s share of the food and water and the mares will be poisoned with ovary-killing pesticides.
As shown in the following map from the National Data Viewer, the horses suffer not from habitat loss, but from resource confiscation and reapportionment.
The EA and DR were copied to the project folder with other supporting documents.
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Western Horse Watchers Association 