August 5, 2012
Antelope Hills Roundup in Wyoming, Fall 2011
When I attended the roundup at Antelope Hills In Wyoming last fall, a herd area managed by the Lander BLM Field Office, I was told by BLM staff that PZP was working – this is PZP-22 the two year birth control drug, and that the numbers of wild horses in the herd areas were staying at a sustainable level. Why then is the BLM proposing to use wild horses in the North Lander Complex as lab rats for a dangerous and virtually untested infertility drug SpayVac that may very well cause infections and permanent sterility in the mares? Is it because the area is quite remote and not one of the most well known herds? Or is it because large parcels of the HMAs are being sold off for oil and gas? Or both? I do know that if we do not comment and take a stand for these horses that their numbers will be reduced dramatically and we may be in danger of losing the herds entirely if all the mares are sterilized.
Please comment by Tuesday August 7. Personalized comments are preferred if you have time to write:
Scott Fluer, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist
BLM Lander Field Office
1335 Main Street
Lander, Wyoming 82520
Fax: (307) 332-8444
Tel: (530) 332-8400
Email: BLM_WY_North_Lander_Gather@blm.gov (Please include “North Lander Complex Comments” in the subject line).
This is from the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:
More Information on the North Lander Complex
The following are the Herd Management Areas (HMAs) that comprise the North Lander Complex and their Allowable Management Levels (AMLs) for wild horses:
Muskrat Basin, 160-250 horses on 176,340 acres of public land.
Rock Creek Mountain, 50-86 horses on 19,100 acres of public land.
Rock Creek Mountain, 50-86 horses on 19,100 acres of public land.
This from American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lander Field Office in Wyoming is seeking public input for a proposed removal of 580 wild horses in and around the North Lander Complex and the testing of a drug, SpayVac, that may result in permanent sterlization of mares. Earlier this year, theNational Academy of Sciences (NAS) committee received information from experts which revealed that SpayVac appears to cause perpetual (possibly permanently) sterilization and serious health problems in horses.
The 586-square-mile Complex includes four Herd Management Areas (HMAs): Muskrat Basin, Rock Creek Mountain, Conant Creek and Dishpan Butte.
The agency allows just 536 wild horses to live in this vast public lands area, while authorizing the annual equivalent of more than over 3,400 privately-owned cows and thousands of sheep to graze there at rock bottom, taxpayer-subsidized rates. AWHPC opposes the removal of any horses from this large Complex – especially given that the BLM permits more than seven times more livestock than wild horses in the same area.
More Information on the North Lander Complex
The following are the Herd Management Areas (HMAs) that comprise the North Lander Complex and their Allowable Management Levels (AMLs) for wild horses:
Muskrat Basin, 160-250 horses on 176,340 acres of public land.
Rock Creek Mountain, 50-86 horses on 19,100 acres of public land.
Conant Creek, 60-100 horses on 49,528 acres of public land.
Dishpan Butte, 50-100 horses on 92,275 acres of public land.
Rock Creek Mountain, 50-86 horses on 19,100 acres of public land.
Conant Creek, 60-100 horses on 49,528 acres of public land.
Dishpan Butte, 50-100 horses on 92,275 acres of public land.
Just four years ago, the BLM rounded up and removed 500 wild horses from the North Lander Complex. The latest proposed roundup perpetuates the agency’s unsustainable cycle of mass roundups and removals, which wildlife expert Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick confirms speeds up reproduction and threatens the genetic viability of America’s remaining wild horse herds.
Livestock Grazing in the Complex
The BLM allocates more than seven times more resources to privately-owned livestock than wild horses in the Complex. Following are some examples of the BLM’s disproportionate allocation of resources to livestock on grazing allotments within the Complex:
- Connant Creek Common Allotment provides enough resources to support 652 horses per year;
- Muskrat Open Allotment provides enough resources to support 893 wild horses per year;
- Granite Mountain Open Allotment could support 1,065 horses per year; and
- Big Pasture Allotment could support 992 wild horses per year.
Conclusion: The BLM could easily accommodate the current wild horse population living in the four HMAs that comprise the North Lander Complex by making modest reductions in commercial livestock grazing, pursuant to 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a). This regulation the BLM to temporarily or permanently close a public land area to livestock grazing “If necessary to provide habitat for wild horses or burros, to implement herd management actions, or to protect wild horses or burros, to implement herd management actions, or to protect wild horses or burros from disease, harassment or injury. “
The Environmental Assessment for the proposed North Lander Wild Horse Roundup can be foundhere.
In all 4 of these herd areas, large chunks of the HMA are to be sold for oil and gas – go to the EA for this here:
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