By Trina Dennis Brittain
Rocket Miner
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

ROCK SPRINGS — The Bureau of Land Management plans to remove more than 3,000 wild horses from the Great Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and Adobe Town head management areas, including areas in Sweetwater County, beginning this week. 

The roundup plan has faced criticism and legal challenges from animal welfare and conservation groups.

The Wyoming Wildlife Protection Group had two demonstrations opposing the roundups at the Rock Springs BLM Field Office and near the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce last Thursday.

According to Jacqueline Alderman, BLM public affairs specialist for the High Desert District, the Rock Springs Field Office manages the gathering in the Salt Wells Creek and Adobe Town Herd areas. She told the Rocket Miner that the gathering is for the former herd management areas that have been converted to herd areas managed for zero population of wild horses.

Madhu Anderson, a representative for the Wyoming Wildlife Protection Group, claims these roundups are occurring even with “the pending lawsuit challenging the 2023 Resource Management Plan amendment.”

Alderman said the wild horse gathers are being conducted in accordance with the 2023 Record of Decision for the Wild Horse Management Amendment, which altered the BLM’s management of the checkerboard Herd Management Areas.

A Record of Decision is a document issued by a federal agency, usually under the National Environmental Policy Act. It has details of the final decision on a proposed project after an environmental review. The ROD also explains the chosen course of action and ensures transparency in the process.

A debate on social media continues regarding the difference between wild and feral horses. Alderman explained that wild horses, as defined by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, are unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros living on public lands.

She went on to explain that ‘feral’ horses are domesticated horses that have escaped or been released into the wild and live in self-sustaining populations.

“If BLM finds branded domesticated horses during the gather, the agency turns that animal over to the Wyoming Brand Inspector for further action,” Alderman said.

Anderson told the Rocket Miner it is “bad timing” for these roundups to occur because it is foaling season.  She expressed concern for the safety of pregnant mares and foals and the physical and mental stress they could endure.

However, according to the BLM website, the peak foaling season of wild horses on public lands occurs in late April and early May. The great majority of foaling happens from March through June. 

During the wild horse and burro roundups, foals are protected from larger stallions and jacks, and mares are reunited with any separated foals. Also, the rate of movement and herding distance the helicopter pilot uses are based on the weakest or smallest animal in the group.

Anderson still questions how the BLM defines “foaling season,” asking if it has considered whether repeated roundups and treatments disrupt reproductive cycles.

Hoback Junction resident Pia Valar, owner of a horse motel, was one of the demonstrators at the protest near the chamber office. She called the gather “animal cruelty to the wild creatures on public lands.”

“They should be managed like other creatures and not zeroed out,” Valar said, saying her heart particularly goes out to the Curly horses, also known as American Bashkir Curly horses. “They are a rare breed, and they are still uncommon compared to other horse breeds.”

Anderson and the other demonstrators told Rocket Miner that representatives from the BLM did not answer questions during their protest at the Rock Springs Field Office.

Alderman said she received a full update from the office regarding the protest.

“The protesters’ questions were addressed and answered, though they disagreed with the responses provided,” she said. “The BLM welcomes continued dialogue and remains committed to transparency.”

She added the protesters were overall peaceful.

Alderman said anyone in the public including protesters may ask her questions regarding the roundups may contact her by email, jalderman@ blm.gov, or call her, 307-775-6208.