ROCK SPRINGS - Federal wranglers gathered more than 850 wild horses this month in an expedited roundup in southwest Wyoming, according to Bureau of Land Management officials.

The roundups from the adjacent Little Colorado and White Mountain wild horse herds on public rangelands in Sweetwater County aim to bring horse numbers down to the BLM's desired population levels, officials said.

The roundups in the two herd management units, located north of Green River and west of Rock Springs, were postponed in October due to a shift in the BLM's funding priorities. But gathering operations were later rescheduled for this month after state officials blasted the BLM's controversial decision.

"It went well … it was good," Cindy Wertz, a spokeswoman for the BLM in Cheyenne, said Monday of the roundups. "We heard this morning that it had concluded successfully."

Wertz said BLM wranglers captured 856 wild horses during the two-week effort in the Little Colorado and White Mountain herds.

The BLM had set a goal of capturing around 725 wild horses during the operations, but mild weather conditions allowed the agency to capture 130 more animals than planned.

In mid-October, the BLM said it would divert funding from Wyoming's scheduled fall wild horse roundups and instead conduct emergency gathering operations in Nevada. Officials said drought and fire conditions posed a health problem for about 2,200 at-risk wild horses located in several herds in Nevada.

That news drew quick, heavy criticism from Wyoming's congressional delegation and Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who countered that the state had its own drought problems and the BLM shouldn't short-change Wyoming's wild horses for those in Nevada.

The outcry prompted BLM officials to take another look at the agency's wild horse budget. BLM officials eventually reversed course and decided to fund the roundups in the Little Colorado and White Mountain herd management areas.

A total of 570 of the horses were shipped to BLM corrals in Canon City, Colo. The remaining horses are in the agency's Rock Springs horse corrals. Another 63 mares were treated with a fertility control vaccine and returned to the areas.

Wertz said the agency did not spend all of the $300,000 allocated for the roundups. Officials have estimated it will cost an additional $600,000 or so to feed and care for the animals throughout the next fiscal year. Captured wild horse are made available for public purchase for a small fee through the BLM's wild horse adoption program.

Federal officials say wild horses have no natural predators, and with an annual reproduction rate of between 15 and 20 percent, the excess animals must be periodically removed from public rangelands to achieve population objectives.

Agency biologists contend the BLM's appropriate management levels help ensure forage availability for wildlife and grazing, while protecting the health and sustainability of wild horse herds on public rangelands in Wyoming.

Over objective

The latest BLM population inventories conducted last March show there are about 4,400 wild horses scattered across 16 herd management areas in the state, although most of the animals live on public lands in southwest Wyoming.

The agency's statewide objective is between 2,700 and 3,700 animals.

In 2003, after wild horse populations soared to upwards of 7,000 animals, the state and the BLM signed a "consent decree" dictating that the agency meet the state's wild horse objective number with roundups over the next few years.

The Little Colorado and White Mountain roundups marked the second massive gathering project this year by the BLM in southwest Wyoming.

Federal cowboys captured about 920 wild horses in January from the Salt Wells and Adobe Town management units in southeastern Sweetwater County before bad weather shut down the effort.

Wertz said there are no more gathering operations planned for Wyoming this year. She said the agency will not conduct roundups in the White Mountain or Little Mountain herds again for three years.

There are about 29,000 wild horses and burros on BLM lands across the West. Nevada, with about 13,000 animals, has the largest population of wild horses and burros.

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.

* Last we knew: Wyoming elected officials criticized the BLM in October for diverting money from Wyoming to Nevada for wild horse gathering operations.

* The latest: The BLM agreed this month to fund Wyoming's roundups, and a massive gather was completed recently in southwest Wyoming.

* What's next: BLM officials will resume rounding up wild horses in different areas of the state next spring.]]->