Please Urge the BLM to Suspend Removal of 79 Mustangs From WithIn & Outside of the Cedar & Onaqui Mts. HMAs

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Wild horses in Onaqui HMA. All photos by Jerry Sintz

BLM is Also Considering an Alternative to Replace Wild Stallions with Geldings (Again)

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a "capture, treat and release" (CTR) roundup with the removal of at least 79 horses from 625-square-miles of public lands in the Cedar Mountain and Onaqui Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Utah. Despite its mandate to protect wild horses and the fact that these HMAs are designated by Congress as wild horse habitat, Utah BLM allocates the majority of the resources in these HMAs to thousands of privately-owned livestock, instead of federally-protected wild horses.

While AWHPC supports the CTR portion of the action, and applauds the BLM for proposing to maintain the natural 50/50 herd sex ratio, it is of great concern that this proposed action also includes the removal of 79 wild horses living inside and outside of the HMAs. The agency maintains that yearlings and horses living outside the invisible boundaries of the HMA must be removed.

Also under consideration for this roundup is the permanent sterilization (castration) of 40 stallions. Experts have documented that the castration of wild stallions is detrimental to the health of the individual horses, the herds and wild horse society as a whole. AWHPC opposes the replacement of free-roaming, wild stallions with castrated males.

The proposed roundup is scheduled to take place in late winter, beginning on February 20th, when mares are heavily pregnant or nursing newborn foals. The trauma of late winter roundups has been documented to cause pregnant mares to suffer spontaneous abortions and also jeopordizes the newborn foals. (Note: The Environmental Assessment states that the roundup would take place in January, which contradicts both the BLM press release and BLM roundup schedule.)

We must tell the agency that, while we support CTR roundups, they must also take the following actions.

► Cancel plans to remove any horses.

► Cancel any plans to castrate (geld) any stallions.

► Schedule the roundup at a safer time of year.

► Conduct all CTR roundups maintaining existing social bands (families).

Take Easy Action below to submit your comments on the proposed roundup and please share this alert with friends and family!

You will know that you have completed the action when the THANK YOU page appears.

If you would rather send your comments directly, please keep in mind that they must be RECEIVED by December 27, 2011 and should be sent to:

Bureau of Land Management
Salt Lake Field Office
Attn: Cindy Ledbetter
2370 South 2300 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84119
Fax: 801-977-4397

Email comments should be sent to blm_ut_cedarmt_onaqui@blm.gov. If you have any questions on this matter, please contact Cindy Ledbetter, Environmental Coordinator, at (801) 977-4300.

Additional Information and Documents on the Cedar Mountain/Onaqui HMA roundup:

Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) on the proposed roundup. 

BLM Press Release on the proposed roundup.

Information on the Onaqui Mountain HMA, which is located just 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

Information on the Cedar Mountain HMA, which is located just 50 miles west of Salt Lake City

BLM Determined "Excess" Horses To Be Removed: 65

The Cedar Mountain HMA is currently home to an estimated 362 horses or a range of 290 to 434 horses. This number was derived from aerial inventory of the population, estimated increase, and the known removal of horses from the HMA. This number may fluctuate somewhat due to horse movement between the Cedar Mountain HMA, the Onaqui Mt. HMA and Dugway Proving Grounds. Fences that might preclude horse movement between the three areas are generally insufficient to deter movement. The current established appropriate  management level for the Cedar Mt. HMA is set at 190 horses on the low end and 390 at the upper level. The HMA is approximately 197,252 acres in size.

There have been 17 gathers on the Cedar Mountains in Tooele County, Utah, since the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 was passed. The most recent gather was in 2008.

BLM Determined "Excess" Horses To Be Removed: 14

The Onaqui Mountain HMA is currently home to an estimated 159 horses or a range of 127 to 191 horses. This number was derived from aerial inventory of the population, estimated increase, and the known removal of horses from the HMA. This number may fluctuate somewhat due to horse movement between the Cedar Mountain HMA, the Onaqui Mt. HMA and Dugway Proving Grounds. Fences that might preclude horse movement between the three areas are generally insufficient to deter movement. The current established appropriate management level for the Onaqui Mt. HMA is set at 121 horses on the low end and 210 horses at the upper level. The HMA is approximately 206,795 acres in size.

There have been nine gathers on the Onaqui Mountains; the most recent in 2009, since the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act (1971) was passed.

Excerpts from the EA:

1.4 Decision to be Made
The authorized officer would determine whether to implement the proposed population control measures in order to achieve the  objective for wild horse management. The authorized officer's decision is limited to the need to capture, treat and remove excess wild horses. It would not set or adjust AML nor would it adjust livestock use, as these were set through previous decisions.

Wild horse population numbers have the potential to double every four years. With fertility control vaccine treatment, productivity can be reduced substantially in the short term because treatments can be effective for up to three years. Mares from the Cedar Mt. (2008) and Onaqui Mt. (2009) HMAs were treated during the last removal gather; populations in the HMAs are at the mid to upper limit of AML this year. The population increase has resulted in a limited number of excess wild horses (approximately 14 head from the Onaqui Mt. HMA and 65 head from the Cedar Mt. HMA) that need to be removed and placed for adoption/sale or in long-term pastures.

Dependable summer water sources are a major problem. In drought years, natural water sources may dry up, generating the need for water to be trucked in. Hauling water is a financial impact to the BLM and the transportation infrastructure. It represents an opportunity cost and displaces efforts and funds which are intended for use in other areas. In times of reducing budgets, there is no certainty that BLM will be able to continue to haul water to wild horses in sufficient quantity to insure the quality of their existence and avoid mortality. During drought, increased stress is also placed on the water sources and adjacent vegetation as horses congregate around troughs whether or not water is in the spring.

2.2 Alternative A – Proposed Action
The Proposed Action is to gather approximately 469 wild horses beginning on or after January 15, 2012. The gather is expected to slow population growth by treating captured mares with fertility control vaccine Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP-22). Almost all of the wild horses captured (approximately 390 animals) would be released back to the range following the gather. Of these, about 194 mares would be vaccinated with PZP-22, with the remainder of the release horses being stallions. Every effort would be made to return the released horses to the same general area from which they were gathered.

Approximately 79 excess wild horses or up to 20% of those animals gathered, mostly weaned foals or young yearlings, and any wild horses residing outside the HMA boundary would be removed from the area. Weaned foals or young yearling horses are being targeted for removal specifically to help avoid any post gather concerns of animals becoming orphaned following the capture event.

Alternative 2.3 B – Proposed Action with Gelding
Alternative B would be the same as the Proposed Action with an added gelding component only for the Onaqui Mountain HMA. The principal management goal for the Onaqui Mountain HMA would be to retain a core breeding population of 121 wild horses, which is low end of AML. The core breeding population would be managed to achieve a 50/50 male/female sex ratio and all mares released back to the HMA would be treated with two year fertility control (PZP-22). In addition, it is proposed to manage for a non-breeding component of 40 geldings, which would bring the overall population to an estimated 161 wild horses which is near the mid-range of the AML.

BLM Lack Accurate Census Data & May Increase the Number of Horses Removed
A pre-gather population inventory may be conducted in December of 2011 to more accurately determine the population of wild horses on the Onaqui Mt. and Cedar Mt. HMAs and surrounding area. The estimated population of wild horses determined from these inventories would be used to adjust the number of wild horses that would be gathered, vaccinated with PZP-22 and released back into the HMAs. The number of wild horses removed from the HMAs may be adjusted based on the estimated population from this population inventory.

Remove or Reduce Livestock within the HMA
This alternative would involve no removal of wild horses and instead address the excess wild horse numbers through the removal or reduction of livestock within the HMA. This alternative was not brought forward for detailed analysis because it is outside of the scope of the analysis; is inconsistent with the Pony Express RMP and the WHBA which directs the Secretary to immediately remove excess wild horses; and is inconsistent with multiple use management. Livestock grazing can only be reduced or eliminated following the process outlined in the regulations found at 43 CFR Part 4100 and would require a change in the Pony Express RMP. Such changes to livestock grazing cannot be made through a wild horse gather decision.