The Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs and Rawlins Field Offices are launching a 30-day public scoping period prior to preparing an environmental assessment on a proposed wild horse gather in the Salt Wells Creek, Adobe Town, and Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas (HMAs).
The field offices are proposing to gather and remove wild horses to the low Appropriate Management Level (AML) from the three HMAs to comply with the 2013 Consent Decree Rock Springs Grazing Association v. Salazar [Civil Action No. 11-CV-263-NDF].
Current Wild Horse Populations and Appropriate Management Levels of HMAs as provided by BLM:
| HMA | Current Population | Appropriate Management Level (AML) |
| Salt Wells Creek | 835 | 251-365 |
| Adobe Town | 820 | 610-800 |
| Great Divide Basin | 650 | 415-600 |
BLM estimates that 1,029 wild horses will be removed to achieve the low AML in the three HMAs (584 removed from Salt Wells Creek, 210 removed from Adobe Town, and 235 removed from Great Divide Basin HMA). The proposed gather is expected to take place in fall 2017.
Public input is valuable early in the process and will enable the BLM to develop a well-informed environmental assessment. Written comments should be received by April 4, 2017, and should be emailed only to: [email protected] (Please include “2017 AML Gather†in the subject line), mailed or hand-delivered during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) to:  BLM Rock Springs Field Office, 2017 AML Gather, 280 Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, WY 82901.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
For more information, please contact the BLM at 307-352-0256.
A copy of the project map and additional details can be found at:Â https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/projectSummary.do?methodName=renderDefaultProjectSummary&projectId=74247
