AWHC Criticizes BLM's Decision to Proceed with Little Book Cliffs Roundup Despite Governor's and Lawmakers' Objections

Helicopter Roundup Undermines State's Progress Toward HumaneWild Horse Management

(Grand Junction, Colo., Aug. 12) – Today, American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) weighs in on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) decision to move forward with acontested roundupand removal of wild horses by helicopter from the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range, starting Sept. 11, 2024, outside of Grand Junction.

Thedecision to move forwardwith the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range helicopter roundup, despite calls to delay and modify the operation by the Governor and policymakers who worked onlegislationdesigned to minimize the need for roundups, shadows an otherwise encouraging announcement by the state.

Last week, the Colorado Department of Agriculture announced it had signed a contract with the USDA Wildlife Services to provide additional resources to hire professional, on-the-ground,fertility controldarters as part of the Colorado Wild Horse Project (the result of SB23-275).

“We welcome the hiring of full-time, on-the-ground,fertility controldarters, but this much-needed step forward has been overshadowed by confirmation of an unmodified Little Book Cliffs helicopter roundup, which will needlessly remove 120 wild horses. With so much progress by our state policymakers and the Governor to make Colorado a model state for managing wild horses differently, theBLM’s persistence in pushing forward with Little Book Cliffs is discouraging,” said AWHC spokesperson Scott Wilson.

“TheBLMhas failed to adequately respond to the concerns of the Governor and other stakeholders. Little Book Cliffs is a designated Wild Horse Range - meaning there is no competition from livestock grazing - and no pressing need to round up horses by helicopter. It’s a waste of taxpayer money, particularly when the state of Colorado has allocated in-the-wild conservation funds through the Wild Horse Project,” said Wilson.

In June, AWHC submittedofficial commentsto the Colorado office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which urged theBLMto reconsider its proposed management plan and instead support local efforts to expand thefertility controlprogram for this historic herd. The decision by theBLMto move forward with Little Book Cliffs defies calls from the Governor and bill sponsors of SB-275 who also pushed for a delay.

TheBLMhad also announced that a bait-trap removal operation will begin in Sand Wash Basin, outside of Craig, on Aug. 15. This roundup will take up to 60 horses, remove 45, and treat and return 15 mares (female horses) withfertility control. The operation could run until the end of February 2025.

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About American Wild Horse Conservation

American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation’s leading nonprofit wild horse conservation organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horsefertility controlprogram in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.