BLM to gather wild horses on Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The Grand Junction Field Office will begin a wild horse gather on or around Sept. 11 on the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range near De Beque, Colorado. The purpose of the gather is to ensure safe and humane fertility control will be effective in maintaining a healthy herd in Little Book Cliffs for many years to come.
“We are dedicated to managing healthy rangelands to help sustain healthy horses,” said Grand Junction Field Office Manager Stacey Colón. “We conduct gather operations like this to maintain a thriving ecological balance.”
The gather will bring the wild horse population within the Appropriate Management Level of 90-150 horses. Fertility treatment alone cannot reduce wild horse herd populations. Gathers are necessary if a herd exceeds Appropriate Management Level, the amount of horses that the landscape can support year round. Once herd size is decreased through a gather, increased fertility control can help a herd stay within AML, reducing the size and frequency of gathers as healthy herds enjoy healthy public lands.
The BLM and State of Colorado have allocated resources, thanks to the work of the state’s Wild Horse Working Group and partners like Friends of the Mustangs, for a robust fertility treatment program to maintain herds within Appropriate Management Level at Little Book Cliffs and throughout Colorado.
BLM will use a helicopter drive to gather up to 130 wild horses, remove approximately 100 excess wild horses and release up to 30 horses back to the range. Staff will provide fertility control treatments to help slow the growth rate and maintain genetic diversity of the herd.
“During horse operations, our primary goal is to keep the animals, our employees, and members of the public safe,” said Grand Junction Field Office Assistant Manager Isaac Pittman. “Everyone involved in the gather will treat the horses humanely and adhere to the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program.”
Gather operations are open to the public, provided that doing so does not jeopardize the safety of the animals, staff and observers, or disrupt gather operations. Those who wish to attend must RSVP. A dedicated phone line with a recorded message will provide updates on gather viewing activities, meeting times, and locations. For information about the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range gather operations, and RSVP instructions, visit www.blm.gov/LBCgather2024.
Learn more about the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program online.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.