The incident will begin on or about September 11 according to today’s news release.
The capture and removal goals are 130 and 100, respectively.
The pre-gather population is not known.
A helicopter will push the horses into the trap and operations will be open to public observation.
The HMA covers 36,100 total acres in western Colorado, including 35,178 public acres.
The 150 horses allowed by plan require 1,800 AUMs per year.
The stocking rate allowed by plan is 4.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.
Mares returned to the range will be treated with fertility control pesticides.
In a move that will likely anger the advocates, the news release said “Fertility treatment alone cannot reduce wild horse herd populations.”
Animals identified for removal will be taken to the off-range corrals in Cañon City.
The HMA is not subject to permitted grazing but surrounding lands are, denoted by green borders in the following map.
BLM allotments in the state support livestock equivalent to 49,546 wild horses on 7,448,367 public acres, or 6.7 wild horses per thousand public acres.
Western Horse Watchers Association 