Advocates want mustang plan to change

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Advocates want mustang plan to change

Courtesy of TJ Holmes, springcreekwild/Colorado ch
A mare, right, and her yearling colt show their bond in Spring Creek Basin. Wild horses develop close family bonds, which affect all facets of their behavior.
Courtesy of TJ Holmes, springcreekwild, National M
The Cattoor Livestock helicopter pilot pens a band of pintos during the 2007 Spring Creek Basin roundup. The horses are run into Spring Creek canyon, and near the pens, a domestic “Judas horse” is released to lead the mustangs into the trap.
Courtesy of TJ Holmes, springcreekwild/Colorado ch
A 2-year-old colt, in a group with two other bachelors, grazes close to a family band, seen in the background, in early March. There are about a dozen bands in Spring Creek Basin.

Advocates want mustang plan to change

Courtesy of TJ Holmes, springcreekwild/Colorado ch
A mare, right, and her yearling colt show their bond in Spring Creek Basin. Wild horses develop close family bonds, which affect all facets of their behavior.
Courtesy of TJ Holmes, springcreekwild, National M
The Cattoor Livestock helicopter pilot pens a band of pintos during the 2007 Spring Creek Basin roundup. The horses are run into Spring Creek canyon, and near the pens, a domestic “Judas horse” is released to lead the mustangs into the trap.
Courtesy of TJ Holmes, springcreekwild/Colorado ch
A 2-year-old colt, in a group with two other bachelors, grazes close to a family band, seen in the background, in early March. There are about a dozen bands in Spring Creek Basin.
Public can comment on mustang roundup

The public is invited to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management public hearing and scoping meeting on Monday, April 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Dolores Public Lands Office, 29211 Highway 184, Dolores, on a proposed wild horse gather this fall in the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area.
The public hearing portion of the meeting will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and will cover only the use of motorized vehicles and helicopters to gather wild horses from the Spring Creek herd. Helicopters are an effective tool in gathering wild horses and are commonly used in BLM gather operations, according to a statement from the San Juan Public Lands Center. Trucks and trailers would be used to transport the gathered wild horses to adoption or a holding facility. The hearing will begin with a brief introduction, and then public comments will be taken on the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles for gather operations. Oral comments will be recorded and should be kept to five minutes in length. Written and oral comments will be submitted into the official public record, and summaries will be available upon request.
Immediately following the hearing, the public is invited to an open house to learn about issues to be addressed in the preparation of an environmental assessment for the proposed wild horse gather. The open house will include a brief overview of proposed activities and an opportunity for the public to help the BLM identify issues regarding the gather. Public input can be made either verbally to staff or via a comment card at the open house.
Written comments will also be accepted until close of business Thursday, May 12. Written input should be mailed or delivered to Tom Rice, Associate Field Manager, Dolores Public Lands Office, 29211 Highway 184, Dolores, CO 81323. Comments also can be sent via e-mail to: trice@blm.gov.
The wild horse gather is proposed for September at the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, which encompasses 21,064 acres of BLM lands in Disappointment Valley. The removal of some wild horses is proposed to achieve a population of wild horses consistent with the land’s capacity to support the herd in balance with other public rangeland uses and resources. A local adoption of the gathered wild horses will take place after the gather.

For more information, contact Tom Rice at 882-6843.