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Public Lands Council backs urging BLM to keep wild-horse numbers near AML, will draft supportive letter
Summary
After a BLM report showing roughly 189 horses gathered in July and a herd estimate of about 246 (including foals), the council voted to draft a letter urging BLM to keep wild-horse numbers at appropriate AML levels and to remove excess animals promptly. Kim will draft the letter for review.
Emery County Public Lands Council members voted to ask staff to draft a letter urging the Bureau of Land Management to keep wild-horse populations at appropriate appropriate animal-management levels (AML) and to remove excess animals promptly.
The motion followed a BLM field report that described two separate gather efforts in June–July. "We moved 189 head of horses in July," the BLM representative said, adding that the current estimate after the gather is about "246 head total," which includes foals that are not counted as adults. The BLM speaker said constraints on holding capacity and national demand for placements limited the number the agency could remove during the emergency actions.
Council members described severe drought conditions on allotments and urged continued and accelerated efforts. One ranching permittee said the reduction so far is appreciated but remains insufficient: "We're still over 200% AML," the permittee said, calling the situation "frustrating and flat-out unfair." The BLM representative described quarantine, vaccination and sorting processes at an Axtell facility, and confirmed euthanasia is used when animals meet protocol criteria: "We had two that were euthanized during the gather and a third that probably should have been euthanized during the gather because he was blind."
Kim (council staff) volunteered to draft the letter and council members agreed to review it together before forwarding it to the commissioners and to submit public comments when the BLM publishes an environmental assessment. The council voted unanimously to prepare and review the draft letter so it can be submitted in the EA comment period or earlier if needed.
Next steps: Kim will draft the letter, consult with the working group after the meeting, and bring the proposed text back for review and formal referral to the county commission.
