MAKE A STAND! 
 
The BLM opened a public comment period on the long-term management of the Adobe Town, Great Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and White Mountain wild horse herds.

Here’s a link to a summary of the BLM's proposed actions, published in the local Rock Springs news:

BLM May Remove Majority of Southwest Wyoming's Wild Horses

... and a link to the plan. It is lengthy, but the agency describes its "preferred alternative" on page 5:

EIS for Wild Horse Management in Rock Springs and Rawlins

Register a comment to let the BLM know that you value large, sustainable herds of mustangs.

The due date is April 30th, 2020. 
 
Click the link below for access to the BLM's web-portal:

 
Here’s our best advice on how to approach a comment:

  • Make it personal. Tell the BLM who you are, and if you’ve ever visited the wild horses in southwestern Wyoming, be sure to say so. Even if you only plan to visit someday--if it’s on your bucket list--you you can say things like that, too. If your statement is personal, the agency has to count it as one unique comment. In contrast, if the agency receives 20,000 signatures on a petition, everyone saying the same thing, they consider all 20,000 versions of the petition: "one comment." Petitions are important. They serve a crucial role, but making it personal makes it count.
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  • Stress your preference for "Alternative A." The key features of Alternative A include a provision where the BLM would "manage wild horses within these four HMAs at a total AML of 1,481 to 2,065." These numbers are not large enough in our view, but they're not "zero." Alternative A also includes a plan whereby, "Fertility control would only be implemented when necessary," and in addition, "opportunities for public enjoyment of wild horse herds would be provided by the development of interpretive ​signs, sites, and improved access to herds." ​We support each of these strategies.
 
In Addition, you could: 
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  • Urge the use of PZP fertility control. We believe that PZP represents a safe, humane, and affordable alternative to helicopter roundups and the removal of wild horses from public land--and in particular--PZP serves as a favorable alternative to the surgical “spay” or “neutering” of wild mustangs. All of the BLM's planned alternatives include surgical sterilization, except for Alternative A.
 
  • Suggest the rehoming or relocation of wild horses to currently closed-out herd areas. In Wyoming, and other western states, wild horses have been removed from regions originally protected by federal policy. One key to ensuring that mustangs enjoy access to plentiful forage is the reestablishment of their range. Land swaps and purchases also hold the potential to create contiguous blocks of public property, suitable to serve as mustang habitat.
 
  • Advocate for the buyout or retirement of livestock grazing leases. Cattle outnumber wild horses in the regions protected by the federal Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. In keeping with the Act, the BLM permits wild horses on 12% of the lands that they manage. In other words, wild horses only roam a fraction of the West, but even in the select locations where we allow them to live, depending on the year, cows and calves outnumber horses by a minimum of 28:1. In recent years, livestock have outnumbered horses by a ratio of 92:1 ... keep in mind .... that's in Wild Horse Herd Management Areas!
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  • Encourage the protection of natural predators. If we leave nature to take its course, mountain lions reduce and control the wild horse population. Encourage the BLM to work with the Department of Agriculture and the state’s Game and Fish department to ensure that we protect an ample of number of mountain lions in horse herd management areas.
 
  • Remind the BLM: tourism is the second largest industry in Wyoming—second only to the energy sector. Today, wild horse photography and tourism stand poised to revitalize rural communities, currently struggling to hang on in the wake of a volatile energy market.