The public is welcome to observe the Nov. 14 release of 50 mares and 12 studs at the Cedar Mountain Herd Management Area in Tooele County, Utah.
The Bureau of Land Management Salt Lake Field Office plans to release the horses as part of a population growth suppression program that promotes healthy wild horse populations and protects herd management areas’ resources, a Nov. 7 news release said.
“The BLM is committed to the continued use of fertility control treatments of mares in the Cedar Mountain Herd Management Area,” Jessica Wade, BLM Salt Lake field manager, said in the release. “The BLM hopes to reduce birth rates and extend the time between gathers. This work helps ensure healthy horses on healthy rangelands.”
People observing the release should meet by 1:30 p.m. Nov. 14, at mile marker 20 on Highway 196, between I-80 and Dugway Proving Grounds for the convoy to depart, the release reported. No transportation nor public restrooms will be available.
The horses to be released are at the Axtell Off-Range Corral near Axtell, Utah. They were chosen for release from among 100 horses selected from horses gathered in September for return “to the herd management area for long-term management,” the release said. To help reduce birth rates in the herd management area, the 50 mares were treated with the fertility-control vaccine GonaCon.
A list and map of herd management areas in Utah is available online.
