This Week: 5 - DNC DELEGATES 7 - MANAUS 8-9 - GOVERNMENT 12 - RAMS REPORT 17 - TINA THE LLAMA Your nonprofit
community newspaper
Volume 16, Number 28 | August 29 - September 4, 2024
Roaming with the punches Planned September roundup disappoints wild horse advocates, lawmakers AMY HADDEN MARSH Sopris Sun Correspondent
A wild horse roundup is scheduled for early September northeast of Grand Junction. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees wild horses in the American West, says 202 mustangs roam the 36,000-acre Little Book Cliffs Range (LBC), based on a census earlier this year, and the range can’t handle that many. But advocates, lawmakers and Governor Jared Polis question if the agency will work with them for more humane treatment of the horses. The agency captures and removes wild horses to maintain the carrying capacity of the range or appropriate management level (AML), set at between 90 and 150 horses for the LBC. BLM plans to remove enough animals in September to leave between 105 and 120 horses. The 2021 helicopter roundup at Sand Wash Basin in northwest Colorado and the 2022 roundup of the Piceance-East Douglas herd, west of Meeker, brought federal management of Colorado’s wild horses into sharp focus. Controversies included the amount of mustangs removed, inconsistencies in BLM data, livestock grazing within the herd management areas (HMA) and the dangers for horses from helicopter roundups. Both events drew attention from the public, Governor Jared Polis and other lawmakers. In an Aug. 30, 2021 letter to the BLM, reported the Aspen Daily News, Polis called for a six-month moratorium on wild horse roundups in the state. In
Mustang stallion “Moscato” on the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range near Grand Junction. Photo by Judy Cady, president of Friends of the Mustangs
response to the 2022 roundup, Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO-02) introduced an amendment to the federal 2023 Appropriations Bill to prohibit funding for helicopter roundups. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) introduced the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act to ban the use of helicopters to capture wild horses. The 2022 roundup was cut short, but not before 861 mustangs were captured. In a statement, Polis said, “The
outpouring we heard shows how much people care for the wellbeing of these iconic Colorado animals, and our administration can play a key role in engaging people who can work together to ensure the health and wellbeing of Colorado’s wild horses for generations to come.” Enter Senate Bill 23-275, the Colorado Wild Horse Project, passed in May 2023. The legislation, backed by Sen. Perry Will (R-New Castle) among others,
authorized the state Department of Agriculture to create the Colorado Wild Horse Working Group (WHWG), comprised of stakeholders, including the BLM. The WHWG’s mandate is basically to come up with better solutions for Colorado’s captured wild horses than federal holding pens, and make recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly. During a public WHWG presentation this month, Wayne
East, wildlife programs manager for the Colorado Department of Agriculture, emphasized that the WHWG’s recommendations are for wild horses after they are removed from the range. “When horses have been taken off-range, how can we do better with partnerships with other state agencies?” he explained. “How can we train these horses to make them more adoptable and look at the continued on page 4