The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comments on an Environmental Assessment for the roundup and removal of up to 149 “excess” horses from inside and outside the Muddy Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) over the next 10 years.
The Muddy Creek HMA, located south of Ferron, Utah, consists of approximately 283,400 acres of state and federal lands. The BLM has established the Appropriate Management Level (AML) at between 75-125 horses. However it permits more than five times that number for livestock on the seven allotments overlapping the HMA.
Removing almost 150 horses from the Muddy Creek HMA would leave the core breeding population at just 75 horses, which is near extinction levels. Further, the blm would adjust the sex ratio to 60% stallions and 40% mares.
If Congress approves any of the BLM’s options in its recent report for the management of our nation’s wild horses and burros, the horses removed from the Muddy Creek HMA are in danger of being killed, sold for slaughter, or sterilized. The BLM should immediately implement a comprehensive PZP program in this HMA to vaccinate enough mares to reduce population growth rates over time.