BLM Director, Tracy Stone-Manning,

On July 1, the BLM Wild Horse and Burro program will begin the helicopter drive-trapping to complete the 2023 fiscal year. Please direct agency personnel to include post winter flyover data on their gather update pages to demonstrate transparency and justified agency action.

The population statistics being used in the proposed schedule reflect estimated population numbers collected prior to the hard winter of 2023. 

An example: The Antelope Complex will have two concurrent helicopter drive-tap operations beginning on July 9; one in the north will capture and remove 2000 wild horses and one in the south will capture and remove 1,107 wild horses. In this same area the district found conditions to be so harsh in the winter of 2023 that they allowed multiple permittees to drop hay to ensure the survival of domestic livestock on these same ranges. BLM has provided no data to demonstrate that wild horses were not impacted by the exact same conditions that caused supplemental livestock feeding and a reduced tag availability for game species. 

It is vital that BLM provide a data-based and transparent decision making process. 

Trust in the program is approaching an all time low as advocates see industry in wild horse country prioritized.

Please direct your personnel to publish post-winter flyover data for any herd placed on the removal schedule. 

 

Thank you.