Here it is. We need comments about using fertility control – specifically the annual/native/one-year PZP by trained volunteer darters.
Use this FAQ card I created to help with your comments: https://springcreekbasinmustangs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/pzp-faqcard-forblog1.pdf
I’ll also write something in the next few days to highlight the components we want to address.
Remember, annual PZP darting on the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range was instrumental in canceling the scheduled roundup there this fall. Please do not oppose this roundup – rather, ask that PZP be used in conjunction with bait trapping, as an alternative to helicopter-driven roundups. PZP will push roundups back to few and far between (the goal is no more than one per decade), and bait trapping will ensure humane, slow, careful treatment of the horses. But it has to happen. Spring Creek Basin simply cannot support a great number of horses. I was looking at pix from the 2007 roundup (which I hate) for an article, and at ~110 horses in the total population, they were so very lean. We don’t want to put the horses in that kind of situation again.
Please let BLM know we want to sustainably manage these mustangs using fertility control – make sure you specify “one-year PZP.” That’s the tool that will do the most to prevent roundups.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2011
BLM to hold public hearing and scoping meeting on proposed Spring Creek Basin wild horse gather
DOLORES – The public is invited to a Bureau of Land Management public hearing and scoping meeting on Monday, April 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Dolores Public Lands Office, 29211 Highway 184, Dolores, on a proposed wild horse gather this fall in the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area.
The public hearing portion of the meeting will take place from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. and will cover only the use of motorized vehicles and helicopters to gather wild horses from the Spring Creek herd. Helicopters are an effective tool in gathering wild horses and are commonly used in BLM gather operations. Trucks and trailers would be used to transport the gathered wild horses to adoption or a holding facility. The hearing will begin with a brief introduction, and then public comments will be taken on the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles for gather operations. Oral comments will be recorded and should be kept to five minutes in length. Written and oral comments will be submitted into the official public record, and summaries will be available upon request.
Immediately following the hearing, the public is invited to an open house to learn about issues to be addressed in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment for the proposed wild horse gather. The open house will include a brief overview of proposed activities and an opportunity for the public to help the BLM identify issues regarding the gather. Public input can be made either verbally to staff or via a comment card at the open house.
Written comments will also be accepted until close of business Thursday, May 12, 2011. Written input should be mailed or delivered to Tom Rice, Associate Field Manager, Dolores Public Lands Office, 29211 Highway 184, Dolores, CO 81323. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to: trice@blm.gov.
The wild horse gather is proposed for September 2011, at the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, which encompasses 21,064 acres of BLM lands in Disappointment Valley. The removal of some wild horses is proposed to achieve a population of wild horses consistent with the land’s capacity to support the herd in balance with other public rangeland uses and resources. A local adoption of the gathered wild horses will take place after the gather.
For more information, contact Tom Rice, 970-882-6843.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 