Comments Needed for the Divide Basin Herd
With roundup season starting up again, it is imperative, now more than ever, that we all raise our voices in support of our wild horses and burros. BLM is still soliciting comments for their planned roundup in Divide Basin, a larger herd in southern Wyoming near Rock Springs. We ask that you submit your own comments regarding the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Divide Basin Herd Management Area (HMA). There are gross inadequacies and faulty data utilized in the scope of this EA which will come as no surprise. What is a bit more surprising is the rush to create a non-reproducing herd as an alternative, which is what they want to do to in White Mountain and Little Colorado! If a roundup is conducted this summer, the herd will be reduced to only 415 horses on over 700,000 acres with many of these horses being non-reproducers! The Cloud Foundation’s comments for this EA are available online here. Read on for a sample format!
Comments need to be submitted by Monday, June 20th, no later than the close of business at 4:30 PM Mountain Time. Comments can be submitted via mail at:
Divide Basin EA Comments
BLM Rock Springs Field Office
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, WY 82901
or via email at: DivideBasin_HMA_WY@blm.gov with “Divide Basin EA Comments” in the subject line.
REMEMBER: Please be sure to use your own words when writing your comments!
Subject: White Mountain/Little Colorado Environmental Assessment Comments
Dear Sir;
I do not support the removal of horses from the Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas and encourage you to select the No Action Alternative. Concluding that only 415 horses can live on this legal Wild Horse Herd Management Area, even though they roam on over 778,000 acres of public lands is truly unacceptable and unfair to the mustangs still living free, and to those of us who would one day like to see them in their natural environment in Wyoming. The idea of including an Alternative that allows for this herd to become a non-reproducing population is also unacceptable as well as dangerous for the horses and costly for those of us who pay your salaries.
I ask that you issue a new EA containing up-to-date, factual, realistic statistics with no discrepancies in acreage, census data, and reproduction rates before making a decision.
When you write your own letter, be sure to include some of the following points:
- Increase the appropriate management levels (AMLs) and allocate a fair share of forage to wild horses over livestock.
- BLM needs to address the clearly erroneous data they present for population stats:
- BLM statistics for FY2009 report there were 498 horses in the HMA, and the EA maintains that after a survey in April 2010 that the population was 1,004. This would mean that every horse, including stallions, gave birth and no deaths occurred.
- Using their 20% reproduction rate, a more accurate number of horses in 2011 would be 862 animals, not their estimated 1,640.
- Strongly urge the BLM to eliminate ‘Alternative D,’ which would allow every horse to be rounded up and those slated for release would be spayed or gelded, resulting in a dead-end herd that would die out over time – very costly and dangerous for the mares and stallions.
- Consider predator management as a viable population growth.
- Point out that taxpayers could save almost $500,000 in contractor fees as well as millions more from holding costs by not conducting this roundup!
- Allow for a truly genetically viable herd with a 50/50 sex ratio.
- Protest the cruelty of removing old horses!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
The Cloud Foundation
107 South 7th St
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
719-633-3842