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Tag: Bureau of Land Management

Where will the wild horses go? BLM is looking for landowners to keep wild horses on pasture
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State, The Colorado Sun

Where will the wild horses go? BLM is looking for landowners to keep wild horses on pasture

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun Land managers are ramping up efforts to find homes for Colorado wild horses after capturing an unprecedented number in recent years as part of a national effort to thin herds.  About 2,200 mustangs have been rounded up via helicopter and bait-and-trap operations since 2021, and now federal officials are scrambling to increase adoptions and find long-term pasture options.  The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking bids until Jan. 10 from ranchers or other landowners who want to contract with the federal agency to keep wild horses for the rest of their lives. The BLM currently contracts with 38 landowners in the country — none of whom are in Colorado.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Could Polis really align with Trump on anything? He might on cutting from BLM wild horse management budget
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Could Polis really align with Trump on anything? He might on cutting from BLM wild horse management budget

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In a shocking and unexpected post on Twitter/X, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis posted that he wants the Trump administration to give at least half the funding that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) uses to manage Colorado wild horses to Colorado. The post came from his personal page, not his official governor's page. Polis wrote, “…the BLM spends $187.8 million dollars a year on the Wild Horse Program, including $8.5 million on the 'inhumane horse roundups', and over $100 million caring for the 60,000 horses in holding facilities. Giv[ing] half that amount to the states with wild horses (like CO) with guardrails for horse treatment, we will efficiently manage the population through birth control, eliminating the need for c...
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Daniel: Let local communities lead on public lands
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Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Daniel: Let local communities lead on public lands

By Bobbie Daniel | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Public lands are woven into the fabric of Colorado’s identity, serving as living symbols of our shared heritage, natural beauty and deep connection to the land. Nowhere is this more evident than in Western Colorado, where public lands foster a profound respect for nature and a commitment to stewardship. To ensure these lands thrive for future generations, we must adopt outcome-based policies prioritizing access, sustainability and thoughtful management — balancing conservation with economic vitality. Unfortunately, this balance is increasingly threatened by political instability and federal overreach. Mesa County, where 73% of the land is federally managed, provides a telling example of the challenges at hand. Federal burea...
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In shadow of bipartisan Senate Bill 23-275 creating mustang task force, BLM plans another roundup
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State, The Colorado Sun

In shadow of bipartisan Senate Bill 23-275 creating mustang task force, BLM plans another roundup

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun Four years into an aggressive federal campaign to thin wild horse herds across the West, Colorado officials fed up with helicopter roundups tried something unique — a state-federal working group to collaborate on mustang population control.  Then the U.S. Bureau of Land Management went ahead and proposed its next helicopter roundup.  The announcement in May that the federal agency based in Washington, D.C., plans to remove 85-110 mustangs from Little Book Cliffs near Palisade has set off a fresh round of indignant comments from Colorado officials and run the state-federal collaboration into a wall.  The main question: What is the point of the state working group if the federal government isn’t even listening?  RE...
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Federal land managers are planning Colorado’s next wild horse roundup, ignoring pleas to stop using a helicopter
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National, The Colorado Sun

Federal land managers are planning Colorado’s next wild horse roundup, ignoring pleas to stop using a helicopter

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The latest effort to decrease the wild horse population in Colorado will target the layered beige-and-purple plateaus of Little Book Cliffs, rangeland near Palisade that is home to about 200 mustangs.  The Bureau of Land Management announced Wednesday that it is seeking feedback on a 10-year management plan that calls for removing 85-110 wild horses by helicopter roundup, administering birth control and following up with bait-and-trap operations to keep the population within the federal agency’s desired limits.  The 36,000 acres of rangeland, dotted with bunchgrass and sagebrush and with limited water, can support a maximum of 90-150 horses, according to the BLM.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Congress tells BLM: Fewer roundups, more humane fertility control
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National, thefencepost.com

Congress tells BLM: Fewer roundups, more humane fertility control

By The Fence Post (Via American Wild Horse Conservation) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, Congress took decisive action to prioritize humane wild horse and burro management practices over controversial helicopter roundups. President Joe Biden signed into law a $460 billion package of fiscal year 24 spending bills on Saturday, March 9, narrowly averting a government shutdown. Among the provisions was a significant spending cut for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program budget, emphasizing the need for a shift toward humane and sustainable in-the-wild conservation strategies. The bill allocates $141.9 million for the BLM program, marking a $5.9 million reduction from last year’s budget. Notably, the legislation preserves $11 million in funding specifically designa...
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