Bureau of Land Management seeks public comment on wild horse gather west of Cedar City

In this file photo, wild horses kick up dust as they run at a watering hole outside Salt Lake City, July 18, 2018 | Associated Press file photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — Horse enthusiasts and Utahns at large are asked to submit input on a wild horse gather at Bible Springs Complex area west of Cedar City.

A wild horse jumps among others near Salt Lake City, July 18, 2018 | Associated Press file photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News

The Bureau of Land Management Cedar City Field Office is seeking input during a 30-day public comment period on an environmental assessment to help protect rangeland conditions and the health of the wild horse herd, according to a press release issued last week by the BLM.

The assessment will analyze a proposed gather plan spanning approximately 10 years to remove excess wild horses and use population growth suppression in the Blawn Wash Herd Management Area and Bible Springs Complex Area west of Cedar City in southwestern Utah.

The Bible Springs Complex encompasses the Four Mile, Bible Springs and Tilly Creek Herd Management Areas, with the Blawn Wash Herd Management Area adjacent to the Complex. The Cedar City Field Office proposes to reduce the wild horse herd to the low Appropriate Management Level, which is what they determine to be the number of wild horses the landscape can support.

“We are seeing extremely dry conditions on the range right now, after several years of drought, which is compounded by a large number of excess wild horses,” said BLM Cedar City Field Manager Paul Briggs. “The BLM is committed to healthy horses on healthy rangelands, so we need to look at alternatives to reduce the wild horse herd in this Complex through gathers and fertility control to restore balance to the ecosystem.”

Stock photo, St. George News

The current population of wild horses on the Blawn Wash Herd Management Area and Bible Springs Complex combined is estimated at 831 animals, including foals to be born in 2022, with the appropriate management level set at 80 to 170 horses. The BLM estimates that more than 750 wild horses need to be removed from state, private and BLM-managed public lands to ensure a healthy landscape, the news release states.

Interested members of the public, local governments, Tribal members, organizations and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide written comments during this draft review comment period to help identify alternatives, refine the gather plan and clarify issues. All comments must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on June 17 to be considered.

Written comments will be accepted through the ePlanning website found at this link. Refer to Project Number: DOI-BLM-UT-C010-2022-0012-EA.

Before including an address, phone number, email address or other personally identifiable information in any comments, be aware that the entire comment – including personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. Requests to withhold personal identifying information from public review can be submitted, but the BLM cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

BLM Utah manages 19 wild horse and burro herd management areas on nearly 2.5 million acres. To learn more, visit this website. For additional information, contact the Cedar City Field Office at 435-865-3000.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!