Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area, east of Cody, Wyo., has a fertility control EA out for review, similar to the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Finding of No Significant Impact/Decision Record.

From the McCullough Peaks EA: “Gathers and removals alone will not address the fundamental problem, which is reproduction by horses remaining on the range.

“The purpose of the Proposed Action is to consider a fertility control treatment program in order to maintain a population of 100 adult wild horses which is also within the AML of 70 – 140 wild horses. The purpose is also to stabilize the population in order to reduce the need for larger helicopter gather and removal operations. The Proposed Action in this EA considers the BLM’s need to help maintain wild horse herd numbers to levels consistent with the AML and to make progress towards achieving standards of rangeland health. The need for the Proposed Action is to maintain the population in a thriving natural ecological balance by maintaining the wild horse population within the AML and to analyze the impacts to the wild horses from utilization of fertility control.”

Please also take the time to read photographer Pam Nickoles’ recent blog post: http://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/photo-of-the-week-012511/

Pam has made frequent visits to the McCullough Peaks herd, gotten to know the horses intimately and is very invested in the health and well-being of the herd. Visit her website to see stunning photography of wild horses across the West, including McCullough Peaks.

Reviewers of the EA have 30 days to comment. Comments should be addressed to Patricia L. Hatle, BLM-CYFO, 1002 Blackburn Ave., Cody, WY 82414 and postmarked no later than February 22, 2011. Comments can also be e-mailed no later than close of business on February 22, 2011, to: Cody_wymail@blm.gov

Please do take the time to comment. Pryor Mountain now has an annual fertility control program (as it has in the past), McCullough Peaks would follow that example (and fertility control also has been used there in the past) … and Spring Creek Basin would follow in their footsteps, using fertility control to slow, not stop herd population growth (I’m not a proponent of sterilization, and I’m not sure I like the intense management as is used at Assateague being applied to Western herds). Soon, I’ll be asking you to comment on our EA. I simply ask that you read the EA and comment.

If it helps, use information from my previous blog post: https://springcreekwild.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/love-triangle/ and/or peruse information found here and here to help form educated opinions about the use of fertility control.

The range is not going to be expanded. Mountain lions do not provide sufficient population-control predation. Roundups will continue to happen … hopefully with a move away from helicopters to more humane bait trapping with fewer horses removed and less often than currently. Am I talking about McCullough Peaks or Spring Creek Basin here? Either. Both. Focus on what we CAN do.

The horses are known – they’re documented extensively in McCullough Peaks, as they are in Little Book Cliffs, on Pryor Mountain and at Spring Creek Basin. Volunteers will be used in McCullough Peaks as in the other areas – a woman from FOAL (Friends Of A Legacy) was in my training class at the Science and Conservation Center, and others are already trained.

We – the public, owners of our American mustangs – are being given opportunities to weigh in on the future management of our horses. People ask all the time: What can I do?

Read this document: http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/information/NEPA/cyfodocs/mcculloughpeakhma.Par.0515.File.dat/2011_ea_fonsi.pdf

Write herd area manager Patricia L. Hatle, BLM-CYFO, at 1002 Blackburn Ave., Cody, WY 82414 before Feb. 22, 2011. Or  e-mail  Cody_wymail@blm.gov

She needs positive comments to make this annual fertility control program a success. Please support her, read the EA carefully … and, most importantly, support the mustangs of McCullough Peaks.

(Note: All photos taken during my September 2009 visit to McCullough Peaks.)