The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the gathering of wild horses in the Bible Spring Complex to protect rangeland health conditions and protect the health of wild horse herds.
The complex is comprised of several wild horse herd areas located in Tilly Creek, Bible Spring and Four Mile. According to the Wild Horse Tourist, the BLM manages these areas as one.
“The gather decision supports the BLM’s continuing efforts to manage public lands for multiple use and sustained yield and to manage wild horse populations under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971,” Cedar City Field Manager Paul Briggs said, according to a July 11 BLM news release. “The BLM is committed to healthy horses on healthy rangelands and to maintaining balance of the ecosystem.”
According to the release, the Blawn Wash Herd Management Area and Bible Spring Complex have a combined wild horse population estimated at 831 animals. This includes a forecast of foals expected to be born this year. Currently, the “appropriate management level” is set at 80 to 170 horses. The BLM says they estimate more than 750 wild horses that must be removed from state, private and BLM-managed public lands to upkeep a healthy landscape.
According to the release, the BLM Cedar City Field Office approved the gathering and removal of up to 410 excess wild horses from public-managed lands. The decision backs a gather plan to take place spanning approximately 10 years. This will remove 750 excess wild horses as well as use “population growth suppression methods” in the combined area of Blawn Wash Herd Management and Bible Spring Complex. These areas are located in southwestern Utah, west of Cedar City.
